UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — U.P. accounts for most cases of denial of access to public spaces to persons from SC communities

Q1. With reference to the NCRB 'Crime in India 2023' report, the following States are each claimed to have reported cases under the crime-head 'prevent or deny or obstruct usage of public place/passage' against Scheduled Castes in 2023 (apart from Uttar Pradesh): 1. Haryana 2. Madhya Pradesh 3. Kerala 4. Rajasthan Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified?

  1. Haryana
  2. Madhya Pradesh
  3. Kerala
  4. Rajasthan
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q2. Comparing the NCRB figures for the public-place/passage crime-head against Scheduled Castes across the two latest reported years, consider the following statements: 1. The total number of such cases registered nationally fell from 305 in 2022 to 180 in 2023. 2. Uttar Pradesh's share of the national total was marginally lower in 2023 than in 2022. 3. The crime-head was introduced by the NCRB in 2017, the year in which Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of such cases. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The total number of such cases registered nationally fell from 305 in 2022 to 180 in 2023.
  2. Uttar Pradesh's share of the national total was marginally lower in 2023 than in 2022.
  3. The crime-head was introduced by the NCRB in 2017, the year in which Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of such cases.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. With reference to the legal and institutional framework governing the crime-head 'prevent or deny or obstruct usage of public place/passage' against Scheduled Castes, consider the following: 1. Parent statute — Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 2. Nodal Ministry — Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment 3. Compiler of the 'Crime in India' data — National Crime Records Bureau, under the Ministry of Home Affairs 4. Year this dedicated crime-head was first introduced in NCRB reports — 2015 Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Parent statute — Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
  2. Nodal Ministry — Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
  3. Compiler of the 'Crime in India' data — National Crime Records Bureau, under the Ministry of Home Affairs
  4. Year this dedicated crime-head was first introduced in NCRB reports — 2015
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q4. In the NCRB 'Crime in India 2023' report, Uttar Pradesh's near-monopoly figure of 173 out of 180 national cases relates specifically to which one of the following crime-heads under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act?

  • A. Prevent or deny or obstruct usage of public place/passage
  • B. Wrongful occupation or cultivation of land owned by or allotted to SC/ST persons
  • C. Imposing or threatening a social or economic boycott
  • D. Compelling SC/ST persons to do manual scavenging

Q5. Denial of access to public spaces to persons from Scheduled Caste communities is recorded by the NCRB as a cognizable atrocity primarily under which one of the following enactments?

  • A. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
  • B. The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955
  • C. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018
  • D. The Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955, read with Article 17