On 16 December 2024, we organised a one-day legal training on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for volunteers associated with the Bundelkhand Dalit Adhikar Manch’s (BDAM) initiative, Dalit Dignity and Justice Centre (DDJC) – a legal centre at Ganesh Dham Guest House, Patel Nagar, Orai, Uttar Pradesh. The session was facilitated by Kuldeep Baudh, Mangla Verma, Vipul Kumar, and Hamza Tariq.
Bundelkhand is one of the most underdeveloped regions of Uttar Pradesh and has a high incidence of caste atrocities. Survivors often face barriers in accessing justice due to unaffordable legal costs and lengthy judicial processes. In response to this, BDAM has initiated the Dalit Dignity and Justice Centre (DDJC), which works at the grassroots level to document and monitor atrocity cases, provide free legal aid in cases of crimes against women, POCSO, and caste-based violence, conduct awareness campaigns, and carry out fact-finding.
The training began with an overview of the SC/ST Act, 1989, in which participants were introduced to the definition of an “atrocity” under the law, including the requirement that the victim must belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community and the accused must belong to a non-SC/ST community. Facilitators also explained the strict timelines mandated under the Act, such as the seven days within which compensation is to be disbursed and the sixty days within which the police must file a charge sheet. In the post-lunch session, participants were taken through the format of a complaint, with a focus on important points to keep in mind while drafting one for cases under the Act.
The session concluded with participants expressing the need for more regular legal awareness programmes. As a follow-up, DDJC plans to conduct regular trainings, continue documentation and monitoring of SC/ST atrocity cases, and strengthen the work of the District and Sub-Divisional Vigilance and Monitoring Committees (DVMC and SDVMC) in Jalaun district.