HYDERABAD: A Congress leader has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Telangana High Court, seeking a direction to the State government to appoint a Commission for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), as envisaged in Article 338(5) of the constitution.
The PIL was filed by Medipally Satyam, TPCC Choppadandi Assembly constituency in-charge, Karimnagar district. The term of the existing Commission expired in February 2021. The petitioner contended that due to the non-appointment of the Commission in Telangana, SCs and STs were finding it difficult to vent their grievances. The PIL stated that though several Acts were in force to safeguard the interests of SCs and STs, many of them were not being implemented.
The PIL further stated that the role of such a Commission would involve looking into complaints, inquiring into unfair practices, spreading literacy, conducting studies, research regarding discrimination faced by the SC and ST communities, suggesting appropriate legal and welfare measures, monitoring working of laws in force relating to SCs and STs, encouraging NGOs, sending periodical reports to the government, making recommendations to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, etc. The PIL filed may come up for hearing on Wednesday.