With around 2,000 cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) registered every year in Karnataka, the State Cabinet has decided to designate 33 units of the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) as DCRE police stations by recruiting 450 people to various postings.
All districts would get one DCRE police station while Bengaluru would get two, said Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil. Each police station will be headed by an officer of the rank of DySP/ACP. The total expenditure would be ₹73 crore per year.
Now on, cases of atrocities will be registered and investigated in DCRE stations which would lead to timely and quality investigation, he said. The Home and Social Welfare departments will coordinate and form modalities for the functioning of the police stations, Mr. Patil said.
DCRE was established in the State in 1974 to protect the civil rights of SCs and STs.
In 1989, the Central Act, the SC and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was enacted. Following the passing of the Act, several States established special police stations for handling atrocity cases against SCs and STs.
Overburdened police
Briefing on the Cabinet decisions on Thursday, Mr. Patil said in Karnataka, the implementation of the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, was continued with the local policies which are already overburdened with law and order, crime, VIP movement, traffic, and election duties. This has led to unsatisfactory quality of investigation done by the local police.
Handling of probes by the local police led to non-completion of investigation in atrocity cases in the stipulated 60 days, witnesses turning hostile because of delayed prosecution and thereby, leading to acquittal of cases; and finally leading to the lowest rate of conviction. Currently, the conviction rate was 4% (68 cases), Mr. Patil said.
For rural roads
The Cabinet has approved ₹5,190 crore rural roads projects (PMGSY) for developing 7,110 km of rural roads in various Assembly segments. A sum of ₹3,633 crore would be mobilised through external funding, either from the World Bank or any other agency, and rest by the State government, for executing the project.
Personality development
The Cabinet approved a personality development course to be implemented in Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions (KREIS), by Rotary International Bengaluru at a cost of ₹2.37 crore. There are 201 KREIS in eight districts of the State.
Published - June 20, 2024 09:28 pm IST
