The National Human Rights Commission of India is a statutory body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA). The NHRC is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, defined by the act as "Rights Relating To Life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts in India".
Ram Vilas Paswan was an Indian politician from Bihar and the Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the first and second Modi ministries. Paswan was also the president of the Lok Janshakti Party, nine-times Lok Sabha member and two-time Rajya Sabha MP. He started his political career as member of Samyukta Socialist Party and was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1969. Later, Paswan joined Lok Dal upon its formation in 1974, and became its general secretary. He opposed the emergency, and was arrested during this period. He first entered the Lok Sabha in 1977, as a Janata Party member from Hajipur constituency, and was elected again in 1980, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes.
Panchayati raj is the system of local self-government of villages in rural India as opposed to urban and suburban municipalities.
Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith is a public university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established on 10 February 1921 as Kashi Vidyapith and later renamed, it is administered under the state legislature of the government of Uttar Pradesh. It got University status in 1974 as Deemed to be University and State University status in 2009 by The Uttar Pradesh State Universities (Amendment) Act, 2008. The university has more than 400+ affiliated colleges spread over six districts. It is one of the largest state universities in Uttar Pradesh, with hundreds of thousands of students, both rural and urban. It offers a range of professional and academic courses in arts, science, commerce, agriculture science, law, computing and management.
National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, also called Ranganath Misra Commission, was constituted by Government of India on 29 October 2004 to look into various issues related to Linguistic and Religious minorities in India. It was chaired by former Chief Justice of India Justice Ranganath Misra, member of Rajya Sabha from 1998 to 2004. The commission submitted the report to the Government on 21 May 2007.
The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee is the state unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Maharashtra. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates for local, state, and national elections in Maharashtra. The head office of the organization is situated in Dadar, Mumbai and administrative office in Colaba Causeway, Mumbai
The National Commission for Backward Classes is an Indian constitutional body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India established through Constitution Act, 2018 this amendment act in the constitution to make it a constitutional body under Article 338B of the Indian Constitution. It was constituted pursuant to the provisions of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
Panna Lal Punia, usually known as P. L. Punia, is an Indian politician and Member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh from 2014 till 2020. He was member of the Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014 and represented Barabanki. He is a Dalit leader of the Indian National Congress party. He was also chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes between 2013 and 2016 and as such sat ex officio on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is an Indian constitutional body that was established through Constitution Act, 2003.
The Provisions of the Panchayats Act, 1996 abbreviated as PESA Act is a law enacted by the Government of India for ensuring self governance through traditional Gram Sabhas for people living in the Scheduled Areas of India. Scheduled Areas are areas identified by the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Scheduled Areas are found in ten states of India which have predominant population of tribal communities. The Scheduled Areas, were not covered by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment or Panchayati Raj Act of the Indian Constitution as provided in the Part IX of the Constitution. PESA was enacted on 24 December 1996 to extend the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution to Scheduled Areas, with certain exceptions and modifications. PESA sought to enable the Panchayats at appropriate levels and Gram Sabhas to implement a system of self-governance with respect to a number of issues such as customary resources, minor forest produce, minor minerals, minor water bodies, selection of beneficiaries, sanction of projects, and control over local institutions. PESA is an Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats and the Scheduled Areas. PESA was viewed as a positive development for tribal communities in Scheduled Areas who had earlier suffered tremendously from engagement with modern development processes and from the operation of both colonial laws and statutes made in independent India. The loss of access to forest land, and other community resources had increased their vulnerability. Rampant land acquisition and displacement due to development projects had led to largescale distress in tribal communities living in Scheduled Areas. PESA was seen as a panacea for many of these vulnerabilities and sought to introduce a new paradigm of development where the tribal communities in such Scheduled Areas were to decide by themselves the pace and priorities of their development.
The Sixty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1989, extended the period of reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and representation of the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies for another ten years, i.e. up to 26 January 2000.
Kirit Premjibhai Solanki is an Indian Politician and medical practitioner who has been elected Member of Parliament of India for three consecutive terms. He represents the Ahmedabad West constituency of Gujarat and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party political party. Currently, he has been appointed as the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He is also part of the panel of chairpersons who preside over the House in the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. He is one of the most active members in the parliament and had nearly 100% attendance in the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha. He has been awarded the Shreshth Sansad Award consecutively twice in 2018 and 2019 for his active work in the parliament and constituency.
Vijay Sampla is an Indian politician and former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2021 to 2023. He is a former Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in India from 2014 to 2019 and a former member of parliament from Hoshiarpur. He won the 2014 Indian general election as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. He did not contest the 2019 elections. Sampla, a leader from Punjab, has worked as a farm hand, a labourer and a plumber earlier in his life.
The Legislative Assembly election was held over five phases in Bihar through October–November 2015 before the end of the tenure of the prior Legislative Assembly of Bihar on 29 November 2015.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) is a statutory body of the Government of Delhi constituted to investigate and examine all matters relating to the safety and security of women under the constitution and other laws in Delhi, India.
Swaraj Vidwan is an Indian social worker and activist for the underrepresented. She is a former member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the government of India for her work with vulnerable and marginalised groups. She is currently affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and serves as a General Secretary in the BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha, the party's Scheduled Caste wing.
Loganathan Murugan is an Indian politician and advocate currently serving as minister of state in the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. On 7 July 2021, he was made a union minister of state prior to which he was the state president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
