2017 · GS Paper 1 · Q10 · 10 marks
What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence, addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs) ?
In short
The two major legal initiatives against discrimination towards Scheduled Tribes are the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The first punishes social violence through Special Courts, while the second restores land and community forest rights denied as a historical injustice.
Model answer
Ghissu Editorial · Verified 4 Oct 2026 · 280 words
Scheduled Tribes, 8.6% of the population (Census 2011), enjoy safeguards under Articles 342 and 46 and the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. The two major legal initiatives against their discrimination are the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989: Penal Protection
1. Defined atrocities: It punishes wrongful dispossession of land, forced labour and public humiliation of tribal people, and the 2015 amendment added social and economic boycott. 2. Special machinery: Special Courts, Special Public Prosecutors, victim relief and liability for negligent officials back the law, though low conviction rates blunt its deterrence. 3. Bail bar restored: Section 18A, inserted after Subhash Kashinath Mahajan (2018), bars anticipatory bail and was upheld in Prithvi Raj Chauhan (2020).
Historical injustice
Admitting that forest laws treated dwellers as encroachers, it recognises individual rights over occupied land up to 4 hectares and community rights over minor forest produce.
Gram sabha power
Mendha-Lekha in Gadchiroli manages its own forest under community rights won in 2009, and Niyamgiri's gram sabhas rejected bauxite mining after the 2013 Supreme Court ruling.
Scale and gaps
Over 25 lakh tribal families had rights recognised by August 2025 (New India Samachar, 2025), though claim rejection remains high.
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