SC commission chief visits Bihar to take stock of atrocities faced by Dalits

A team of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes NCSC headed by its chairman Vijay Sampla on Thursday visited Bihar to take stock of discrimination and atrocities faced by Dalits and measures taken for their welfare.On the first of the two-day visit, Sampla met MPs and MLAs belonging to the Scheduled Castes, besides state government officials and representatives from social organisations.

A team of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) headed by its chairman Vijay Sampla on Thursday visited Bihar to take stock of discrimination and atrocities faced by Dalits and measures taken for their welfare.

On the first of the two-day visit, Sampla met MPs and MLAs belonging to the Scheduled Castes, besides state government officials and representatives from social organisations. According to an official release, instances of ''atrocities and institutional discrimination and social exclusion'' faced by the ''SC community in the state'' were flagged by political leaders and social activists. Post-lunch, the NCSC delegation held a meeting with government officials, led by Chief Secretary Amir Subhani.

The meeting was marked by a review of ''progress of various schemes for economic and social welfare of Scheduled Castes'', both centrally sponsored ones and those being run by the state. Earlier, a BJP delegation including state BJP president Samrat Choudhary and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi paid a courtesy visit to Sampla, who had also served as a minister of state in the first Narendra Modi government.

Besides Sampla, the visiting NCSC team includes vice chairman Arun Halder, and members Subhash Ramnath Pardhi and Anju Bala. On Friday, the NCSC delegation is scheduled to ''review cases of atrocities against SC community'' registered across the state, the release added.