Will not allow any dilution in SC/ST Act: Rajnath Singh
New Delhi, July 18 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday assured the Rajya Sabha that the government will not allow any dilution in any of the provisions of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste Prevention of Atrocities Act.
"The protection available to SC/STs in the Constitution cannot be snatched away either by any organisation or by any individual," Singh assured the Upper House while replying to supplementaries during Question Hour.
He said the NDA government had taken every step to strengthen the act and would not allow anyone to dilute it.
"In 2015 our government not only made amendments into the act to make it more effective but also changed the rules to strengthen it," he said.
Responding to a query over low rate of conviction of crime against of SCs and STs community, Singh said the government had established 194 Exclusive Special Courts for speedy disposal of such cases.
"The rate of conviction will increase," he said. The government also rejected the claims that there has been any increase in cases of crime against SCs and SCs.
"There has been no increase in the cases of crime against SCs and STs," Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said quoting data from the National Crime Records Bureau.
He was responding to a query by Congress member Shamsher Singh Dullon, who alleged that crime against SCs and STs had increased in the last four years.
"The government is serious to stop atrocities against SCs and STs," Ahir said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
