Tamil Nadu has been identified as the state where most Dalits and Scheduled Tribes are subjected to various kinds of violence. Data revealed by the Ministry of Home Affairs on July 19, Tuesday said that an overwhelming 345 villages in 37 out of Tamil Nadu’s 38 districts have been identified as ‘atrocity prone’ for crimes against the oppressed Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. Among its seven commissionerates, 27 villages were identified as ‘atrocity prone’ in 2020, the Ministry said. The data was released in response to a question by Telangana Congress MP Komati Venkatreddy and Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP Manne Srinivas Reddy in the Lok Sabha.
An RTI reply had earlier revealed that between 2016- 2020, a total of 300 murders in incidents of various caste-related violence across Tamil Nadu were registered under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015. The victims in most of these incidents were members from the Dalit community. The RTI was filed by Madurai-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Evidence.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands have identified the atrocity prone areas. Section 21(2) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (POA) Act, 1989 and Rule 3(1)(i) of the POA Rules, 1995 specifies the delineation of ‘Identified Areas’ (commonly known as ‘Atrocity Prone Areas’) where members of SC/ST are vulnerable to being subjected to atrocities and prescribes adoption of necessary measures to ensure their safety.
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