The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is a

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

. It is responsible for

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

and

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, including

scheduled castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

(SC),

Other Backward Class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

es (OBC),

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people, the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

, the

elderly Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

, and the victims of

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

. It also helps in the enforcement of legislation with regards to these marginalized groups to better enforce anti-discrimination policies. The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment holds

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

rank as a member of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

. The current minister is Virendra Kumar, who is assisted by a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

Rattan Lal Kataria Rattan Lal Kataria is an Indian politician from Haryana. He served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment till 7 July 2021. He is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha. He got elected to 16 ...

, Krishan Pal Gujjar and

Ramdas Athavale Ramdas Bandu Athawale () (born 25 December 1959) is an Indian politician and social activist from Maharashtra. He is the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and has its roots in the ...

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 An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

and the

Wakf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...

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 The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, a branch of Government of India, looks after the affairs of the tribal communities in India by providing educational scholarships, grants to create more health infrastructure in tribal communities and direct cash ...

. In January 2007, the Minorities Division and the Wakf Unit were moved out of the ministry to form the

Ministry of Minority Affairs The Ministry of Minority Affairs is the ministry in the Government of India which was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and created on 29 January 2006. It is the apex body for the central government's regulatory and ...

and the Child Development Division left the ministry to form the Ministry of Women and Child Development. To propagate the ideologies and philosophy of

Babu Jagjivan Ram Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 – 6 July 1986), known popularly as Babuji, was an Indian independence activist and politician from Bihar. He was instrumental in the foundation of the ''All India Depressed Classes League'', an organisation dedicated ...

, the 'Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation', has been set up by the Ministry. In 2012, the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment launched Oblindia, an online library for visually impaired college students. At launch, the library included 12,000 books in 10 languages.

Organisation

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. *Statutory Bodies **Office of the

Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities The Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities is a Government of India agency under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This has been set up under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of ...

, New Delhi ** National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities **

Rehabilitation Council of India The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) is the apex government body, set up under an Act of Parliament, to regulate training programmes and courses targeted at disabled, disadvantaged, and special education requirement communities. It is the onl ...

(RCI) *National Institutes **

Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 common era, CE) was the last of four Rashidun, Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

(AYJNIHH) **

Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Institute for Persons with Physical Disabilities (Divyangjan) (P.D.U.N.I.P.P.D.) is an autonomous organisation under the administrative and financial control of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, govern ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

(formerly

Institute for the Physically Handicapped Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Institute for Persons with Physical Disabilities (Divyangjan) (P.D.U.N.I.P.P.D.) is an autonomous organisation under the administrative and financial control of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, govern ...

(IPH)) **National Institute for Locomotor Disabilities,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

National Institute of Mentally Handicapped National Institute for the Empowerment of Person with Intellectual Disability is an autonomous organization functioning under the aegis of Indian Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the primary objective of empowering mentally handicap ...

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...

(NIMH) **

National Institute of Visually Handicapped National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (Divyangjan), Dehradun (formerly known as National Institute for the Visually Handicapped) is a premier organisation under the administrative control of Department of Empow ...

(NIVH), Dehradun **

National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research Swami Vivekanand National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research is an autonomous institute functioning under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of India. It is located in Olatapur, Olatpur, 30 km from Cuttack. Hi ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

( NIRTAR) **

National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD) is an Indian government agency providing services to persons with multiple disabilities. It was established by Government of India under the aegis of the Departm ...

(NIEPMD), Chennai **Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLRTC) *

Public sector undertaking A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

s **

National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation (NBCFDC) was incorporated 13 January 1992 as a non profit company under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often a ...

(NBCFDC) **

National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) was set up in January 1997 as a not for profit company under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (India), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. The ...

(NHFDC) **

Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity. Connotations Artificiality ...

(ALIMCO),

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

*Composite Regional Centres for Persons with Disabilities (CRCs) *Public Private Partnership **Indian Spinal Injury Centre

Legislation

* Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007

Ministers of Social Justice and Empowerment

List of Ministers of State

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Social Justice And Empowerment (India) Social Justice and Empowerment Reservation in India Social justice