Latest news with #SC
The Print
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Print
52% of pending SC/ST/OBC scholarship applications cleared: Delhi minister
An online portal will also be developed to streamline applications, he added. These scholarships include the Tuition Fee Reimbursement scheme for 2023-24 and 2024-25, Chief Minister Vidyarthi Pratibha Yojana, Dr B R Ambedkar State Topper Award, Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship schemes, Merit Scholarships for College and University Students, and Financial Assistance for SC students pursuing education abroad, he said. New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) The Delhi government has cleared 52 per cent of pending applications under various SC/ST/OBC scholarship schemes in the past three months, Social Welfare Minister Ravinder Indraj said on Thursday. Indraj said many hostels for SC/ST students were shut down due to negligence in the past, but the Delhi government now plans to set up at least one such hostel in every district. The minister announced that a large public awareness event would be held on June 26 at the Yamuna Sports Complex to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Indraj made the remarks while chairing a review meeting with vice chancellors, and other officials from the education department, universities, and the SC/ST/OBC Welfare Department, according to a statement. The minister said several suggestions were received during the meeting and that they would be considered to further strengthen the existing schemes. PTI SHB VN VN This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Amritsar hooch tragedy: SC commission seeks action taken report from DC, SSP
Amritsar: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has launched an investigation into the hooch tragedy in Amritsar's Majitha sub-division, which claimed the lives of 27 people in May. The NCSC has demanded an action taken report (ATR) from the Amritsar deputy commissioner and senior superintendent of police (SSP) within 15 days. The investigation was initiated after a complaint was filed by Parmjit Singh Kainth, vice-president of the BJP Scheduled Caster (SC) Morcha, Punjab, who raised concerns that the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government was attempting to cover up the fact that 16 of the victims were from the SC community. According to the notice served to the authorities, the commission will inquire into the incident under the powers conferred to it by Article 338 of the Constitution, which mandates the protection of SC rights. On Thursday, Kainth led a delegation of the BJP SC Morcha leaders to the villages affected by the tragedy and met with the families of the victims and expressed their concerns over the government's handling of the incident. Kainth accused the AAP government of hiding the identities of the SC victims in order to downplay the issue. 'The government is trying to cover up the fact that 16 of the deceased were from the SC community,' Kainth alleged. 'The liquor mafia continues to operate freely, and the AAP government has failed to take effective action against them.' The BJP leader flayed the government for its alleged failure to expose the mafia responsible for the illegal production of methanol-laced liquor, which caused the deaths.
Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
Behind rape of minor Dalit girl by 14 men for 2 years, failure of systems meant to protect someone like her
At a hospital in an Andhra Pradesh district, a 15-year-old girl, almost eight months pregnant, spends her days in a 150-bed ward, surrounded by expectant mothers and wailing infants. Authorities have deemed it dangerous to terminate her pregnancy at this stage, and say sending her home is not an option either – the teenager is the victim of sexual abuse over two years by 14 men, who are from an influential community in the village where the crimes took place. According to officials, the investigation, which began in the first week of June after the 15-year-old's mother approached the police, has revealed the failure of systems that were designed to protect someone like her: The daughter of a single mother, struck by poverty, and belonging to SC (Madiga) community in a village dominated by forward castes. 'It was her young age, vulnerability and caste because of which the men could prey on and exploit her for two years, leaving her pregnant at 15. The systems that are in place to check on her welfare failed. Her class teacher did not even report that she had dropped out of school,'' Superintendent of Police V Ratna told The Indian Express. 'It has been decided to keep the girl in the hospital until delivery. If she is released from the hospital and sent back to her village, nobody knows what will happen. She is being provided counselling and other care. After delivery, the mother and child will be moved to a government home for women,' the SP, who is leading the investigation, said. The girl's ordeal began when she was 13 and in the 8th grade. As per the police report, after the girl's father died about three years ago, her mother moved to a nearby village close to the Karnataka border. According to the police, one of the accused found the girl and her classmate, also from the SC community, sitting alone after school and snapped photos on his mobile phone. 'Using violence, intimidation and threats of leaking the photos on social media, two accused first forced the girl to submit to their demands and raped her. They also filmed the act. These videos and photos were used to exploit the girl by the friends and acquaintances of the primary accused,' the SP said. After finding out that the girl was pregnant, her mother approached the police in the first week of June. On June 9, the police arrested six persons, and subsequently 11 more. The police remand report names 17 accused – 14 who allegedly raped her for nearly two years, and three persons, including the minor classmate, for not informing authorities. All have been arrested. The arrested accused include three minors and 14 men aged between 18 and 51. They have been charged under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and the Information Technology Act. Police are also looking at the failure of the girl's class 10 teachers to report her absence or inquire why she had stopped attending school. 'It is SSC, the most important class. If a student is not seen in class for several days, any teacher would notice and conduct a check. Her teachers failed to do so,' SP Ratna said. The Grama Mahila Samrakshana Karyadarsi – volunteers integrated into the system as 'Mahila Police' – also failed to conduct welfare checks on the single mother and her child. 'This, despite it being known that the mother was depressed after her husband passed away and was finding it hard to work and take care of herself and her daughter,' an official said. Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers, who are supposed to visit the family often, also failed to take note. 'There is a very small population of SCs in the village. Of the 17 accused, 14 are from the Boya community, while the three who kept quiet are from the SC community. When the case came to light, the Boya community leaders allegedly tried to get the girl married to her SC classmate and hush up the matter,' an official said. Although her delivery date has been set by doctors after July 21, police have decided to keep her in the hospital as they deem it 'risky' to send her back home. 'The accused, though they are in jail, can use any means necessary to coerce the survivor to withdraw the case. As Dalits, she and her mother are vulnerable and may be forced to relent,' an official said. Blood tests have also revealed the survivor is anaemic, and hospital sources said she is battling depression. Officials said doctors are working to provide her with the requisite care.
Express Tribune
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
'SC must overturn unconstitutional order'
Justice Aminuddin Khan has observed that the apex court is bound by the Constitution and it can revoke any unconstitutional verdict. Justice Khan made this remark on Thursday while leading a 11-member constitutional bench (CB) of the Supreme Court that is hearing review petitions filed against the SC's July, 2024 verdict in the reserved seats case. On July 12, 2024, a full bench of the apex court through a majority of 8 to 5 resurrected the PTI as a parliamentary party, noting that 39 of the lawmakers who had submitted certificates of their affiliation with the PTI along with their nomination papers were already PTI lawmakers. The SC ruled that the remaining 41 lawmakers who had not submitted the affiliation certificates at the time of nomination papers' submission could do that now within a period of 15 days. The government had later filed review petitions against the verdict. During the hearing on Thursday, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar questioned whether the Constitution mandated that reserved seats must not remain vacant. The counsel for a petitioner Salman Akram Raja responded that the court had already declared that these seats cannot be left unfilled. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail asked which fundamental rights had been violated by not allocating reserved seats to the PTI, while Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan queried whether the court could fill a political vacuum on its own initiative. The court will resume hearing of the case today.
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
SC put stop to 'bulldozer justice': Executive can't be judge, jury, says CJI
CJI BR Gavi NEW DELHI: Highlighting Supreme Court's contribution in the last 75 years to accelerate political, economic and social justice to the poor and marginalised, CJI B R Gavai on Thursday told an assembly of top judges of Italy how the top court recently banned "bulldozer justice" and prevented the executive from becoming the judge, jury and executioner. Gavai was referring to SC's judgment last year barring the executive from arbitrary demolition of houses of those accused of crime, bypassing the legal process, which violated citizens' fundamental right to shelter under Article 21. CJI B R Gavai was speaking at the Milan Court of Appeal on 'Role of Constitution in Delivering Socio-Economic Justice in a Country: Reflections from 75 Years of Indian Constitution". "The executive cannot become judge, jury and executioner all at once," the CJI said and quoted the judgment, which stated, "Construction of a house has an aspect of socio-economic rights." "For an average citizen, construction of a house is often the culmination of years of hard work, dreams and aspirations. A house is not just a property but embodies the collective hopes of a family or individuals for stability, security and a future," the CJI further added. "As we look back on these 75 years, there is no doubt that the Indian Constitution has strived for change in the life of the common people. To summarise, several aspects of Directive Principles were made enforceable by reading or legislating them as a facet of fundamental rights," CJI Gavai said. "While Parliament took the lead by way of legislation and constitutional amendments, Supreme Court has consistently worked to transform socio-economic rights, ranging from education to livelihood, into enforceable fundamental rights, which were then given effect by Parliament," he added. The CJI added that the Constitution's journey in the past 75 years in delivering socio-economic justice "is a story of great ambition and important successes... the earliest initiatives undertaken by the Indian Parliament immediately after the adoption of the Constitution included land and agrarian reform laws and affirmative action policies for backward classes. The impact of these initiatives is clearly visible today". CJI Gavai, the second Dalit to become the head of India's judiciary, said, "Affirmative action policies in education, which sought to correct historical injustices and ensure representation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and socially and educationally backward classes, have been a concrete expression of the Constitution's commitment to substantive equality and socio-economic justice." Because of these measures, he could become CJI, Gavai said, adding that he was a product of the very constitutional ideals that sought to democratise opportunity and dismantle the barriers of caste and exclusion.
