The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment today placed before the Rajya Sabha the detailed State/UT-wise statistics on crimes against members of the Scheduled Castes registered under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, covering the five-year period from 2020 to 2024. The figures are compiled and published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its publication “Crime in India,” the country's official crime-statistics database, whose reports are available up to the year 2024.

This information was given by Hon’ble Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Ramdas Athawale, in a written reply to the Member of Parliament Shri Sanjay Singh in the Rajya Sabha.

The written reply stated that cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 stood at 45,995 in 2020, of which 36,178 were chargesheeted, 17,113 remained under investigation at the year-end, and 2,613 ended in conviction. Similarly, a total of 61,925 persons were arrested that year, 75,238 were chargesheeted, and 4,855 were convicted, while 177,379 cases remained pending trial at year-end.

In 2021, cases registered held roughly steady at around 45,800 to 46,100, with 37,123 chargesheeted and about 16,300 to 16,400 pending investigation. The convictions rose to 2,848, arrests totalled roughly 58,700 to 58,800, and around 74,000 to 74,100 persons were chargesheeted. The pending trials climbed further to roughly 2,05,800 to 2,06,000, and 5,141 persons were convicted.

The registrations then rose sharply in 2022 to 52,866 cases, with roughly 42,000 to 42,900 chargesheeted and about 17,000 to 17,200 cases pending investigation. The convictions nearly doubled from the previous year to 4,876. The arrests numbered roughly 65,000 to 65,150, persons chargesheeted numbered between 84,074 and 84,145, and persons convicted rose sharply to roughly 9,070 to 9,080. The cases pending trial rose to between 233,500 and 233,750.

In 2023, cases registered rose again to a five-year high of 53,372, with 45,439 chargesheeted and 14,634 pending investigation. The convictions stood at 4,691. The arrests totalled 61,747, persons chargesheeted numbered 90,664 — the highest of the period — and 7,858 persons were convicted. The pending trials climbed to 2, 62,554.

By 2024, cases registered eased to 48,669, with 40,614 chargesheeted and 14,918 pending investigation. The convictions rose to 5,192, the highest figure in the five-year period, and persons convicted reached 10,839, also a five-year high — more than double the 2020 figure. The arrests totalled 55,286 and persons chargesheeted numbered 84,215, while pending trials rose further to 2, 87,694, also the highest of the period.

The Ministry reiterated that the NCRB’s Crime in India report remains the authoritative, publicly available source for tracking crimes against Scheduled Castes, and that the Government continues to monitor category-wise incidents and case outcomes to inform policy on the safety and security of Scheduled Castes communities, the Minister stated.

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PR- 043- TAR/KV/GA

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