Tribal Welfare

Article 164 of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Minister in charge of Tribal Welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes or any other work in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.

Consequent upon the creation of the States of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, a sizable portion of the Scheduled Areas of the erstwhile State of Madhya Pradesh stands transferred to Chhattisgarh and the entire Scheduled Areas of the former Bihar State stand transferred to the newly formed Jharkhand State and the Scheduled Areas. Further, as per census figures of 2001, the percentage of the Scheduled Tribes population to total population in the four States are as follows:—

            Name of the State                                          Percentage of the Scheduled Tribes population to total

(i)                  Bihar                                                0.9

(ii)                Jharkhand                                26.3

(iii)                Chhattisgarh                              31.8

(iv)               Madhya Pradesh                                   20.3

As there are no Scheduled Areas in Bihar now and the fraction of population of the Scheduled Tribes is very small, it is proposed to exclude Bihar from the purview of the said proviso and also proposed to extend the provisions of clause (1) of Article 164 to the newly formed States of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2011

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2011

Statement of Objects and Reasons

India has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities   (UNCRPD) and has undertaken the obligation to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all Persons with Disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the basis of disability. In fulfillment of this international commitment, the country is obligated to enact suitable legislation in furtherance of the rights recognized in the UN Convention.

India enacted the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995 in fulfillment of its obligation as a signatory to the proclamation on the full participation and equality of People with Disabilities in Asia Pacific region. This legislation has been on the statute book for nearly 15 years and has been the basis of a largely empowering jurisprudence on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Whilst the need to retain the empowering jurisprudence is unequivocally acknowledged; it is also recognized that the present Persons with Disabilities Act does not incorporate a number of rights recognized in the UNCRPD. Even the rights that are recognized are not in total harmony with the principles of the Convention.

Furthermore, the UNCRPD recognizes that disability is an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. The Persons with Disabilities Act on the other hand has provided for an impairment based exhaustive definition of disability. Consequently, people with impairments not mentioned in the Act have been denied the rights and entitlements recognized in the Act.

Insofar as the present Disability Act at no place mandates the right to equality and non-discrimination for persons with disabilities and only selectively recognizes some rights for some persons with disabilities, it is proposed to replace the current disability legislation with a comprehensive law which recognizes all rights of all persons with disabilities.

To this end, it is proposed that the new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act shall:

a. Guarantee equality and non-discrimination to all persons with disabilities;

b. Recognize legal capacity of all persons with disabilities and make provision for support where required to exercise such legal capacity;

c. Recognize the multiple and aggravated discrimination faced by women with disabilities and induct a gendered understanding in both the rights and the programmatic interventions;

d. Recognize the special vulnerabilities of children with disabilities and ensure that they are treated on an equal basis with other children;

e. Mandate special programmatic interventions for home bound persons with disabilities; persons with disabilities in institutions as also persons with disabilities with high support needs;

f. Establish a Disability Rights Authority which facilitates the formulation of disability policy and law with active participation of persons with disabilities; dismantles structural discrimination existing against persons with disabilities and regulates the due observance of regulations promulgated under this Act for the protection, promotion and enjoyment of all rights guaranteed in this Act;

g. Specify civil and criminal sanctions for acts and conduct deemed to be wrongful;

Juvenile Justice System

Article 15 of the Constitution, inter alia, confers upon the State powers to make special provision for children. Articles 39 (e) and (f), 45 and 47 further makes the State responsible for ensuring that all needs of children are met and their basic human rights are protected.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, ratified by India on 11th December, 1992, requires the State Parties to undertake all appropriate measures in case of a child alleged as, or accused of, violating any penal law, including

(a) Treatment of the child in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and       worth

(b) Reinforcing the child's respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others

(c) Taking into account the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was enacted in 2000 to provide for the protection of children. The Act was amended twice in 2006 and 2011 to address gaps in its implementation and make the law more child-friendly. During the course of the implementation of the Act, several issues arose such as increasing incidents of abuse of children in institutions, inadequate facilities, quality of care and rehabilitation measures in Homes, high pendency of cases, delays in adoption due to faulty and incomplete processing, lack of clarity regarding roles, responsibilities and accountability of institutions and, inadequate provisions to counter offences against children such as corporal punishment, sale of children for adoption purposes, etc. have highlighted the need to review the existing law.

Further, increasing cases of crimes committed by children in the age group of 16-18 years in recent years makes it evident that the current provisions and system under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, are ill equipped to tackle child offenders in this age group. The data collected by the National Crime Records Bureau establishes that crimes by children in the age group of 16-18 years have increased especially in certain categories of heinous offences.

Numerous changes are required in the existing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to address the above mentioned issues and therefore, it is proposed to repeal existing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and re-enact a comprehensive legislation inter alia to provide for general principles of care and protection of children, procedures in case of children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law, rehabilitation and social re-integration measures for such children, adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children, and offences committed against children. This legislation would thus ensure proper care, protection, development, treatment and social re-integration of children in difficult circumstance by adopting a child-friendly approach keeping in view the best interest of the child in mind.