{"id":48285,"date":"2025-07-16T20:28:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T14:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=48285"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T07:52:08","slug":"union-government-report-pcr-act-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-07-2025\/union-government-report-pcr-act-1955","title":{"rendered":"Union Government Report on Protection of Civil Rights Act (PCR Act) 1955"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Polity and Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The<strong> Union government\u2019s 2022 annual report<\/strong> on the implementation of<strong>(PCR Act) 1955,<\/strong> has been made public by the <strong>Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges Highlighted by the 2022 Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Underreporting: <\/strong>Low case numbers may reflect lack of awareness, fear of retaliation, reluctance to use the law, or preference for the SC\/ST Act, rather than actual reduction in untouchability practices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High Pendency and Poor Conviction Rates: <\/strong>In 2022, 1,242 cases under the PCR Act were pending trial in courts.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The pendency rate in courts remains above 97%, indicating sluggish judicial processing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ineffective Enforcement:<\/strong> The very high rate of acquittals and pendency signals gaps in investigation, evidence collection, witness\/victim protection, and judicial processes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Overlapping Legislation:<\/strong> The enactment and broader coverage of the SC\/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has shifted most prosecution of caste-based crimes under its provisions, relegating the PCR Act to limited, less severe offences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of State Initiative: <\/strong>Several States have not established the required infrastructure or reporting systems, undermining the intended purpose of the Act.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Protection of Civil Rights Act (PCR Act) 1955<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Article 17 of the Constitution<\/strong> (enforced on 26 January 1950) legally abolished untouchability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To operationalise this constitutional guarantee, the <strong>Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 was passed.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 1976, the Act was comprehensively amended and renamed as the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, to reflect its <strong>focus on the enforcement of civil rights.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Provisions of Protection of Civil Rights Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Definition of &#8216;Civil Rights&#8217;: <\/strong>Refers to any right accruing to a person by reason of the abolition of untouchability under Article 17 of the Constitution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Punishable Offences: <\/strong>Denial of access to public places like temples, wells, shops, restaurants, roads, schools, etc.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Refusal to sell goods or render services based on untouchability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Insulting a person on the ground of untouchability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Compulsion to perform menial services or social boycott.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Preventing any person from observing any religious or social custom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nature of Offences: <\/strong>All offences under the Act are cognizable and non-compoundable.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enhanced punishment for repeat offenders (up to 2 years and fine).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Institutional Framework: <\/strong>Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the nodal ministry for implementation.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>State-level Vigilance and Monitoring Committees are to be formed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Annual Reports on the Act\u2019s implementation are tabled in Parliament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Revamp and strengthen enforcement mechanisms under the Act.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Regular training and sensitisation of police, judiciary, and public officials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strengthen monitoring at the district level, including the declaration of &#8220;untouchability-prone&#8221; areas where necessary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improve legal aid and awareness among Dalit communities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure better coordination between PCR Act and SC\/ST PoA Act implementation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/pendency-of-untouchability-cases-in-courts-remains-over-97-shows-government-report\/article69814690.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Union government\u2019s 2022 annual report on the implementation of Protection of Civil Rights Act (PCR Act) 1955, has been made public by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Challenges Highlighted by the 2022 Report<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Underreporting: Low case numbers may reflect lack of awareness, fear of retaliation, reluctance to use the law, or preference for the SC\/ST Act, rather than actual reduction in untouchability practices.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">High Pendency and Poor Conviction Rates: In 2022, 1,242 cases under the PCR Act were pending trial in courts.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The pendency rate in courts remains above 97%, indicating sluggish judicial processing.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Ineffective Enforcement: The very high rate of acquittals and pendency signals gaps in investigation, evidence collection, witness\/victim protection, and judicial processes.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-07-2025\/union-government-report-pcr-act-1955\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48285"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49998,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48285\/revisions\/49998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}