Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is an Indian government ministry. It is responsible for welfare, social justice, and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, including scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), the disabled, and the elderly.

The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers. The current minister is Meira Kumar, who is assisted by a Minister of State, Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan. [ [http://india.gov.in/govt/cabinet.php National Portal of India : Government : Who's Who ] ]

History

In the 1985-1986, the former Ministry of Welfare was divided into the Department of Women and Child Development and the Department of Welfare. At the same time, the Scheduled Castes Development Division, Tribal Development Division and the Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Wakf Division of the Ministry of Law left those ministries to form the new Ministry of Welfare.

The Ministry of Welfare adopted the name Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in May 1998. In October 1999, the Tribal Development Division left the ministry to become its own ministry, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In January 2007, the Minorities Division and the Wakf Unit were moved out of the ministry to form the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Child Development Division left the ministry to form the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Organization

The ministry has five bureaus, each headed by a Joint Secretary: Scheduled Castes Development Bureau; Backward Classes Bureau Coordination, Media, Administration; Disability Bureau; Social Defense (SD) Bureau; and Project, Research, Evaluation and Monitoring Bureau.

*National institutes for persons with disabilities
**Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai (AYJNIHH)
**Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Physically Handicapped, New Delhi (formerly Institute for the Physically Handicapped (IPH))
**National Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped, Kolkata
**National Institute of Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad (NIMH)
**National Institute of Social Defence (NISD)
**National Institute of Visually Handicapped (NIVH)
**National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research, Olatpur, Cuttack and Orissa (NIRTR)

*Public sector undertakings
**National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC)
**Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Kanpur

*Other associated organizations
**Chief Commissioner for Disabilities
**Dr. Ambedkar Foundation
**Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped (formerly National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped (NIOH))
**National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC)
**National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)
**National Commission for Safai Karamcharis
**National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC)
**National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC)
**National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC)
**National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation
**National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities
**Officer of the Chief Commissioner for Disabilities
**Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
**Swami Vivekanand National Institute of Rehabilitation, Training and Research (SVNIRTAR)

Notes

External links

* [http://socialjustice.nic.in/ Official website]