National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC): New Rules for Complaint Rejection Raise Concerns
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (Constitutional Bodies - National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), Article 338; Fundamental Rights).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Polity, Governance, Social Justice): Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies; Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population... and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections (Scheduled Castes).
Key Highlights from the News
New criteria issued by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) for rejecting complaints.
Authorities state this move aims to handle high pendency of cases and to exclude complaints filed by non-Scheduled Caste individuals.
Key situations where complaints can be rejected:
Unsigned, vague address, or anonymous complaints.
Complaints where the complainant does not self-attest to being a Scheduled Caste member.
Matters that are sub judice or already decided by a court.
Policy matters.
Complaints about general administrative irregularities that have no clear SC-specific context and are not directly related to the complainant's Scheduled Caste status.
Concerns have been raised that these new stringent criteria might weaken the Commission's functioning and deny justice to genuine victims.
COMMENTS