VIJAYAWADA: Refuting the allegations of the Opposition TDP that Dalits were being neglected and harassed in the State, Home Minister Taneti Vanitha said all the charges were baseless and politically motivated.
In a press release on Tuesday, she said with the only objective of defaming the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government, the TDP was making baseless allegations. “The government has taken effective measures to curb crimes against SCs and STs in the State,” she asserted.
Furnishing the figures, she said, “The average number of crimes against SCs and STs has decreased significantly in the State since 2019. The annual average number of cases from 2014 to 2018 stood at 3,418 (per lakh SC/ST population) and it was 2,349 cases from 2019 to 2021. The conviction rate stood at 5.4% in 2014, 5.5% in 2015, 3.2% in 2016, 5.5% in 2017, 5.7% in 2018, 6.8% in 2019, 10% in 2020.”
She elaborated that the number of cases that went up to the chargesheet was only 44% during 2014-19 and it increased to 73% during 2019-23. Further, between 2014 and 2019, it took an average of 206 days to complete the investigation and that average had come down to 88 days.
In 2017, the number of SC, and ST cases where the chargesheet filed within 60 days was 21%. Now, in 82% of cases chargesheet is being filed in courts within 82 days, she said and added that the time taken to complete the investigation has come down significantly.
In August 2020, APCID introduced India’s first Oculus device for audio and video recording in the case investigation to ensure that the probe does not go wrong and evidence is not lost. This initiative has led to an increase in the rate of conviction. A PCR case monitoring system is functioning to ensure timely completion of investigation of SC, and ST cases, she said.
Special drives were conducted by APCID for the speedy completion of the investigation of SC, and ST cases from January 2021 to April 2023. Chargesheets were filed for 3,989 SC, and ST cases and 1,384 cases were disposed of. The payment of compensation to the victims has also been speeded up, she added.