MADURAI: After an RTI reply revealed that Adi Dravidar Welfare Monitoring Committee was not constituted after 2020, the SC/ST welfare department clarified on Friday that the state SC/ST commission, established in 2021, monitors and handles all the welfare related issues, and hence the state committee for SC was not extended after 2020.
In a release, the SC/ST welfare department stated that the Tamil Nadu government has initiated various welfare schemes for the SC/ST people. As per the GO no. 187, a state SC committee was formed in 1995 to monitor welfare schemes and provide solutions for SC people. The welfare committee was reconstituted every three years. Finally, in April 2017, the committee was reformed and was operational till March 2020.
Later in 2021, the chief minister established a new body - Tamil Nadu SC/ST State Commission - as a single autonomous authority, thereby eliminating the need to extend the existing SC state committee. At present, the state commission for SC/ST is functioning properly to maintain and monitor the welfare of the people and provide advice and solutions in a proper manner, the release stated.