Number of SC/ST Act cases in Bihar high: Athavale

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athavale on Thursday expressed concern over the high number of cases lodged in Bihar under the SC/ST Act.

At a meeting with top officials in Bihar, the Union minister also urged the Nitish Kumar government in the state to pay heed to the dalits' need for security and progress.

"The number of cases lodged in Bihar so far this year under the SC/ST Act is 4517. The figure was 6826 last year as against 5730 in 2016, 6372 in 2015 and in 6560 in 2014. The numbers, for each year, are quite high and point towards the need for providing better security and growth opportunity to the depressed classes", Athavale told reporters at a press conference held afterwards.

He also said "out of the 1234 castes included in the list of Scheduled Castes, 23 are in Bihar. The welfare and empowerment of these is essential so that this section of the society could do its bit to Bihar's overall growth".

The Union minister also stressed on the need for raising the monthly pension of Rs 400 only to "Divyang" (physically challenged) people, and expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that while the number of physically disabled was about three millions, only eight lakhs were getting pension.

He also urged the state government to pay attention to gathering of data with regard to inter-caste marriages, so that those who gather courage to cross old social barriers could receive benefits of schemes meant especially for them.

The RPI leader, whose party follows the Ambedkarite ideology, also said Bihar was "close to my heart as it is the land of the Buddha".

"I am glad that the Bihar government is doing good work with regard to development of Bodh Gaya and other Buddhist tourist spots. The Centre too is doing its bit and a total amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been allocated for construction of roads in the Buddhist Circuit", he said.

"I have also noticed that the Niranjana river near Bodh Gaya does not have adequate water round the year which often causes inconvenience to pilgrims who visit the place from far off corners in the country as also abroad. I have placed a proposal before Union Minister for Surface Transport and Waterways Nitin Gadkari for doing the needful in this regard", an official release quoted Athavale as saying.