The Indian Constitution enshrines the commitment to uplift and empower marginalized groups such as Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), minorities, and the disabled. The goal is to enhance their status and bring them on an equal footing with the rest of society.
The government adopts the 'social justice' approach to ensure equal rights and access to resources, and 'empowerment' to enable these groups to develop their potential and capabilities as agents of change, through planned development.
The government is unwavering in its commitment to empower these socially disadvantaged groups. The key objectives outlined include:
- Creating a supportive environment that allows these groups to exercise their rights freely, enjoy their privileges, and lead lives with dignity and confidence.
- Ensuring the elimination of disparities, exploitation, and suppression, and providing protection to these disadvantaged groups.
- Ensuring that the benefits of development reach the most marginalized through equitable distribution.
- Ensuring that these socially disadvantaged groups are involved in the planning process, not merely as beneficiaries but also as active participants in the formulation, implementation, supervision, and monitoring of need-based programs and projects.
- Accelerating the ongoing process of improving the socio-economic status of these disadvantaged groups through effective implementation of various policies and programs, with the ultimate goal of bringing them at par with the rest of society.
Both government and non-government entities are making concerted efforts through the effective implementation of various welfare and development policies and programs towards achieving:
- Social empowerment, primarily through the promotion of education.
- Economic empowerment, through job creation, income-generating activities, and poverty alleviation.
- Social justice, through effective implementation of existing legislation and other measures to prevent and protect these disadvantaged groups from atrocities.
