The Commission receives a large number of representations from individual members of Scheduled Tribes or their associations etc. These representations/petitions pertain to the violation of the reservation instructions in services, (ii) problems relating to the socio-economic development of Scheduled Tribes such as admission in educational institutions, land alienation matters etc. and (iii) atrocities on members of Scheduled Tribes by non-Scheduled Tribe persons. These representations are referred to the concerned organizations of the Central or the State Governments by the Commission requesting them to furnish full facts within a given timeframe facts furnished by the concerned organization are examined by the Commission and in case the Commission feels that there has been violation of the safeguards provided to the members of Scheduled Tribes either the Constitution or under any other law or order of the Government, it advises the concerned organization to corrective measures. The concerned organizations are advised to take follow up action on the Commission recommendations/observations within a given timeframe and apprise the Commission of the action taken pen In case there is no response to the Commission's letter within a reasonable period of time, the Common calls the senior executive(s) of the concerned organization to appear before the Commission and explain the position with reference to the points raised in the petitions. The minutes of these hearings are recorded at the conclusion of the discussions either on the same day or within a week's time thereafter and a copy thereof them for taking appropriate action and to inform the Commission of the action taken by them on its advice thin a given timeframe.
Whenever information is received in the Commission about any incident of atrocity against a person belonging to Scheduled Tribes, the Commission immediately gets in touch with the law enforcing and administrative machinery of the concerned State and the district to ascertain the details of incident and the action taken by the district administration. The Commission ensures the following while by monitoring and issuing instructions to the concerned authorities:
Whether the scene of occurrence of the crime has been visited immediately by Collector and Supdt. of Police of the district on receipt of information.
Whether proper FIR is registered in local Police Station.
Whether names of all the persons involved/cited by the complainant has been included in the FIR
Whether investigation has been taken up by a Senior Police Officer as per provisions of Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Whether culprit has been apprehended and booked without loss of time.
Whether proper charge sheet has been filed mentioning the relevant sections of IPC together with the SCs & STS (POA) Act, 1989 in the Court.
Whether the cases are tried by the Special Courts.
Whether Special Public Prosecutors have been appointed to handle these cases.
Whether Police assists the courts in bringing forward witnesses and see that the culprits are suitably punished by the courts.
The Commission, wherever possible and depending upon the gravity and circumstances of the case, also visit the place of incident to oversee the arrangements, in particular the action taken by the State Govt to provide the necessary relief and rehabilitation to the victims of the atrocities or their family members and also the arrangements made by the State Govt. for treatment of the injured and infuse confidence among the victims. The Commission also monitors to ensure that:
the victims are provided with suitable medical assistance and on time;
adequate protection is arranged for the victims of such incidents by providing police protection by stalning a police party, by patrolling, etc;
proper compensation is paid to the victims as per provisions of law.
In order to monitor and evaluate the implementation status of various development schemes, and investigation and disposal of the cases of atrocities on the members of Scheduled Tribes by the police authorities and the courts, the Commission interacts with the State/UT Governments by holding detailed State level review mengs with the Chief Secretaries and other senior officers through visits to the States and UTs. These meetings are generally preceded with visits to the tribal Bastis, hostels, Ashram Schools etc. and interactions with them on the impact of the developmental projects. The Commission has noticed that these visits and meetings have been greatly instrumental in enhancing the interests and involvement of the State/UT Governments in better understanding of the genuine problems of the Scheduled Tribes and accordingly, in advising them to take suitable initiatives in working out remedial measures and adopting appropriate and relevant strategies. The State level review meetings with the senior officers of the State Govts, including Chief Secretaries are generally taken by the full Commission or by its Chairman accompanied by Member/Members.
The Commission also undertake review meetings with the district level officers to assess the impact of the developmental schemes, and investigation of the cases of atrocities on members of Scheduled Tribes and advises them to take a series of remedial action for better and more effective implementation of the projects with a view to ensure the flow of benefits to all the tribals including those living in inaccessible areas and also to expedite the investigation and disposal of the atrocity cases and the cases relating to land alienation etc. pending either with the district administration or in the courts. The Commission also interacts with the leaders of tribals or the members of tribal associations to ascertain the ground realities and the implementation status of various projects and schemes before having review meetings with the district administration.
The Commission also undertakes review meetings with the organizations/offices functioning under the administrative control of the Central Government, and the various Central Public Sector Undertakings including the financial institutions to ascertain the implementation of the reservation instructions in appointment of different categories of posts as also the assessment of the implementation status of the development projects for socio-economic advancement of Scheduled Tribes. These review meetings by the Commission are generally preceded by meetings with the representatives of SC/ST Employees' Welfare Associations operating in those organizations which are meant at understanding the actual grievances of the ST employees working in these organizations.
