'NCSC members managed to resolve only limited number of cases during past 6 years'

Past members of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) sat on cases and managed to resolve only a limited number of cases during the past six years. The recently appointed member of the commission, Swaraj Vidwaan said this while addressing the media here on Tuesday.

Speaking at a Press Conference, Vidwaan said that since the end of tenure of the fourth commission, the NCSC had been devoid of members for about eight months now. On May 31, the Government formed the fifth commission appointing three members, one Chairman and one Deputy Chairman of the NCSC. She said, “With a term of three years, the commission is a constitutional body which is made for protecting the interests of the people belonging to the scheduled caste. 

However, I would like to point out that during the past six years, the then members of the commission sat on files and managed to resolve only a few cases during their term in office.” Informing that she had official assumed charge as NCSC member on June 2, Vidwaan said that she had first come to visit her home State where she had attended various programmes and held introductory meetings with different bodies including the employees federation office bearers at the Secretariat, ONGC and others. On being asked about what her stance would be regarding scheduled caste related issues of Uttarakhand which may be raised at NCSC, she said that issues brought to the commission would be taken cognisance of. 

Regarding the issues raised by employees during their meeting with her, Vidwaan said that there were some complaints about the roster of promotion for scheduled caste employees not being followed properly and problems being faced in securing job for dependents of deceased employees were raised by representatives of the employees. 

later during the day, she was also felicitated at the Bharatiya Janata Party State head office for being made a member of the NCSC. A BJP member from Uttarkashi, Vidwaan is a former district head of the party, an ex-member of the District Panchayat and also currently an office bearer in the BJP State unit under the party’s State president Ajay Bhatt.