The observations were being made by Mr P L Punia, the newly appointed chairman of the Commission, during his recent visit to Lucknow.

The former bureaucrat Punia, who had also been secretary to Mayawati during her earlier regime as chief minister, said that in majority of the cases of atrocities against Dalits, reports were not lodged in Uttar Pradesh.

Accusing the Mayawati government of being insensitive towards the struggles and harassments of Dalits, Mr Punia said that whenever the Commission wrote letters to the state, government took no cognition of them; leave aside replying to them, or taking recourse to the necessary actions to alleviate the problems.

Punia also commented that the state government was trying its level best to thwart his visit to Lucknow. He further said that the state government wrote five letters stating that its officials were too busy to attend the Commission chairman Punia, but, ironically enough, never managed to respond to the letters sent on earlier occasions from the Commission on the subject of atrocities and tribulations of the Dalits Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Punia charged that the funds allocated in the Special Component Plan meant for “Harijans welfare” were diverted in UP under Mayawati regime. Mr Punia disclosed that two medical colleges were set up in Jalaun and Kannauj by siphoning off funds from the Special Component Plan.

He further said that the Medical Council of India had not granted recognition to these medical colleges on the basis of the complaint that they were constructed with the money from SCP funds.

Countering the statement from the state chief secretary Mr Atul Gupta that there was a decrease of 25 per cent in cases of atrocities on Dalits, Mr Punia said that the decrease was shown by not actually registering the cases, thereby manipulating the statistics to bring their numbers down.

He said that it was unfortunate that Mayawati, who called herself a messiah of Dalits, had failed to check the incidents of violence against them, and it appeared that she did not have the necessary will power to stop the hostilities.

The apathy of state government towards the visit of NCSC was evident from the charge levelled by Mr PL Punia, that government could not arrange a review meeting with state chief minister and DG Police, which was a must. So much so, that Mr Punia was not allowed to hold the press conference at the state guest house.

The Chairman of NCSC said that only six per cent schemes were running in the state for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, while their population was 21 per cent of the state population.

Mr Punia said that he had the officials of the Commission posted in UP to monitor all the government schemes meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

He further said that he would also regularly visit UP, and regular monitoring by the Commission would certain make a big difference in the conditions of Dalits.

The NCSC is trying to initiate a procedure of automatic registration of FIRs by Dalits, completion of investigations of cases within one month, and delivery of decisions by special courts in three months time, so informed the NCSC chairman.

Mr Punia, however, said that although there were special courts, they were busy taking up other cases as well, and that's why there was delay in delivery of decisions on cases of hostilities against Dalits.

Meanwhile the UP state government denied the allegations of NCDC chairman Mr Punia about the increase in the cases of atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and diversion of funds from the Special Component Plan.

In a letter written to the Commission, the state chief secretary said that there was a fall in the number of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 during the current year. (IPA Service)