Government to file review petition against dilution of SC-ST Act: Paswan

A delegation of Dalit ministers and MPs led by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday to discuss issues related to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and and said the government will file a review petition against a Supreme Court order that dilutes some stringent provisions of the anti-atrocities act.

Addressing a press conference here, Paswan said the meeting with Modi was "positive" as the Dalit ministers and MPs apprised him of certain issues related to the SCs and STs such as reservation in private sector and promotion in the public sector.

He said the government was "committed" to file a review petition against the dilution of some provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Union Ministers Ramdas Athawale, Jual Oram, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ajay Tamta, Vijay Sampla and several MPs including Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul were part of the delegation.

"It was positive discussion with Modi ji. He listen to our issues and concerns," Paswan said.

"We also made demands for reservation for SCs and STs for jobs in the private sector and promotions in the public sector."

The Constitution envisages continuation of reservation for SCs and STs, he said.

Paswan and Athawale took a dig at the Congress for accusing the BJP-government of not doing enough to protect interests of SCs and STs saying "If it is concerned about it so much, why did not it file a review petition?".

Athawale said there could be "a very few fake cases" but the almost all cases under the atrocities ct were genuine.

Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Athawale's Republican Party of India (RPI) have already filed separate review petitions against the Supreme Court's order.

--IANS

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