“BJP has made SC panel defunct,” AAP takes on government

Questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of not filling the vacant posts of Chairman, Vice Chairman and Member of the National Scheduled Caste Commission (NSCC), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has  said that the Union Government should give reasons for keeping the posts of such an important commission vacant for long.

AAP vice-president Paramjit Singh Kainth  said while the posts of the Chairman and Vice Chairman had been vacant for the past about six months, there had been a phenomenal rise in excesses on the SCs in various parts of the country. There are three slots for members in the commission.

He said Chairman of the commission PL Punia completed his tenure on October 21 last year. Vice Chairman of the commission Raj Kumar Verka relinquished the office in November. Members have also since retired, he added.

The commission exists on paper but actually it does not work. When asked, Punia said the posts had been vacant for long and the Union Government knew about it.

Kainth said, “From suicides to social boycott, denial to perform social customs to being victims of stone-pelting and derogatory remarks, the SC community has been subjected to enough humiliation in the reign of the BJP and Prime Minister Modi. The National Scheduled Castes Commission, made with a view to provide safeguards against the exploitation of Scheduled Castes to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, has been reduced to a non-entity,” Kanith has been quoted by a leading daily from Chandigarh.