An angst-ridden Mayawati took a dig at the Narendra Modi led BJP government by claiming that the SC/ST Atrocity Law is a mere tool for appeasement when nothing much is actually being done for the Dalits.
The BSP chief and former UP chief minister said that the benefits of reservation in educational institutions or jobs are not reaching the socially backward classes. Mayawati said that in the past four years, people have been highly dissatisfied with how the government has functioned. On Monday, a unanimous law passed by the Lok Sabha provided for stricter actions against any form of atrocities committed against SC/STs like no bail for any accused individual or no requirement for inquiry before setting up a probe or registering a criminal case against any action.
Mayawati claimed that in a bid to win the mandate for the upcoming polls, the BJP under immense pressure had restored the Act and also taken up the issue of making the NCBC(National Commission for Backward Classes) an autonomous body. The BSP chief also urged the government to include the upper caste poor as well as minority religious groups like Muslims under the broader spectrum of reservations in the educational and professional sectors as well.