Centre Releases ₹747 Crore to Uttar Pradesh Under SC/ST Protection Scheme

The Ministry said Uttar Pradesh received ₹747.17 crore in Central Assistance between 2019-20 and 2025-26, during which 1,43,543 victims of atrocities were provided relief under the scheme.

The Central Government has released more than ₹747 crore to Uttar Pradesh over the past seven years to strengthen the implementation of laws protecting Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and to provide relief to victims of atrocities.

The details were shared by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The assistance was provided under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Strengthening of Machinery for Enforcement of the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Over 1.43 lakh victims received relief

The Ministry said Uttar Pradesh received ₹747.17 crore in Central Assistance between 2019-20 and 2025-26, during which 1,43,543 victims of atrocities were provided relief under the scheme.

According to the government, ₹141.36 crore was released in 2019-20, benefiting 23,866 victims. This was followed by ₹113.03 crore in 2020-21 for 23,592 victims, ₹126.72 crore in 2021-22 for 20,278 victims, ₹91.54 crore in 2022-23 for 23,828 victims, ₹97.95 crore in 2023-24 for 19,240 victims, ₹89.49 crore in 2024-25 for 20,074 victims, and ₹87.08 crore during 2025-26, under which 12,665 victims have received relief.

The scheme provides financial assistance to states and Union Territories to strengthen enforcement of the two Acts and support victims of caste-based atrocities.

Cases against SCs rise in Uttar Pradesh

The government also cited data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showing that cases registered against Scheduled Castes under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Uttar Pradesh increased from 11,829 in 2019 to 14,642 in 2024.

Despite the increase in registered cases, the Ministry noted that Uttar Pradesh's conviction rate remained consistently higher than the national average throughout the period. The state's conviction rates stood at 66.1% in 2019, 70.3% in 2020, 76.3% in 2021, 80.2% in 2022, 70.0% in 2023 and 73.3% in 2024, compared with national averages of 32.1%, 42.5%, 36.0%, 34.1%, 32.4% and 33.9%, respectively.

Fewer cases involving Scheduled Tribes

The reply stated that cases registered against Scheduled Tribes under the Act in Uttar Pradesh remained comparatively low. A total of 36 cases were recorded in 2019, followed by three cases in 2020, four in 2021, five in 2022, six in 2023 and eight in 2024.

The conviction rate for these cases was 100% in 2019 and 2020, while no convictions were reported between 2021 and 2024, according to the information placed before Parliament.

States responsible for compensation payments

Responding to a query on compensation, the Ministry clarified that while the Centre provides financial assistance under the scheme, the responsibility for implementing it and disbursing relief to victims rests with the respective state governments.

The Ministry also stated that it does not maintain centralised data on the actual amount of compensation paid to victims from the assistance released to states and Union Territories.