Sunday, August 16, 2015

Regarding efforts to get the SC and ST (POA) Amendment Bill 2015 passed in the Rajya Sabha


Regarding efforts to get the SC and ST (POA) Amendment Bill 2015 passed in the Rajya Sabha

Friends,

This is in continuation of my last post dated August 11, 2015 about the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015.

2.         Efforts to get the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha before it was adjourned sine die on 13. 08. 2015 did not succeed.

3.         An opportunity has now emerged for quickly completing the historical process, started by getting the above Bill passed in the Lok Sabha on 4.8.2015, with the proposal to convene a Special Session of Parliament, mainly for getting the GST Bill through.

4.         I understand that the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has written to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to include the Bill in the List of Business for the Rajya Sabha.

5.         I have, on 14. 8.2015, written to the Hon'ble Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot ji, who is himself anxious to get the Bill quickly passed in the Rajya Sabha, and Hon'ble Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shri Venkaiah Naidu garu, who helped in scheduling the Bill in the Lok Sabha, to
            (a) include our Bill in the list of business for the Rajya Sabha in the earliest part of the special session
            (b)  schedule our Bill for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha in the earliest part of the special session
            (c)  move the Bill for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha in the earliest part of the special session
            (d)  get it passed in the special session.
[(a) and (b) by Hon'ble Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and (c) and (d) by Hon'ble Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment]

6.         I have also written to Hon'ble Prime Minister requesting him to kindly help in this. Further, I am writing to Dalit and Adivasis and other sympathetic MPs known to me.  I shall be taking this up with the important leaders of the Opposition for their support for the Bill when it is moved in the Rajya Sabha.

7.         I am tomorrow going to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala for a meeting organized by Institute for Social Advancement (ISA), of which I am the Chairman, with the Chief Minister on a programme relating to the Adivasis of Kerala – Shri Sivanandan, IAS (Retd) and his wife Smt.Sulochana, Retired Chief Engineer, are the spirits behind this effort – and shall be returning on the 22nd August after which I shall resume and pursue the efforts regarding the Bill.

8.         Dalit and Adivasi organizations and social workers can help by sending e-mails to the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (e-mail:officemvnaidu@gmail.com) and the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment (e-mail: officesjem@gmail.com).
            (i)  conveying the anxiety of Dalits and Adivasis that the Bill should be passed in the Rajya Sabha in the proposed special session
            (ii)  Requesting the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs for (a) and (b) of para 5
            (iii) Requesting the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment for (c) and (d) of para 5
and e-mails to Prime Minister (email: pmh7rcr@gov.in) requesting him to help in getting the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha in the proposed special session of the Parliament.   You can add whatever you consider appropriate. Those who send such emails may kindly send copies to me. It will be useful and necessary to make them know the feelings of the large populations of SCs and STs (16.6 percent of SCs and 8.6 percent of STs according to Census 2011). This is the only way we can do this since the media, especially national media, are indifferent to the feelings and aspirations of the Dalits and Adivasis.

Yours sincerely,
 
(P. S. Krishnan)
P. S. KRISHNAN, IAS
Former Secretary to Government of India,
Ministry of Welfare;
Advisor (with Cabinet Minister status), Government of Telangana (BC Welfare)
Member, National Monitoring Committee for
 Education of SCs, STs and Persons with Disabilities,
 Government of India.
Formerly,
Member, National Commission for SCs and STs
Special Commissioner for SCs and STs
Member-Secretary, National Commission for Backward Classes
Member, Expert Committee on Backward Classes
Chairman, Dr. Ambedkar Foundation Research Cell
Member, Working Group for Sanitation and Leather Workers
Advisor, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India
Chairman, Sub-Group on "Perspective Planning for Development of SCs" of the
      Planning Commission's Working Group on SCs in the XII Plan;
Member, Planning Comm's Working Group on Empowerment of Scheduled Castes in XII Plan;
Member, Planning Comm's Steering Committee on Empowerment of SCs, BCs,
 Nomadic & Semi-Nomadic Tribes and VJs in XII Plan.
 
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