In the deliberations, which also had the presence of

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh and Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes P L Punia, Selja rued poor conviction rate in such cases. "The data also indicates that the conviction rate was at 30 per cent during 2011 while the disposal rate of the cases by the courts was at 20 per cent during 2009-2011. The conviction rate was less than 15 per cent in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Tripura," she said. The Minister said that the government proposes to make an explicit provision in the Act to make engaging or employing an SC/ST person in carriage of human excreta an offence