Chandigarh, April 30 -- Complaints of atrocities and rights violations against Scheduled Castes have seen a sharp rise in the state, with the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission receiving over 16,000 cases since 2020, including a peak of 3,630 in 2025.

In 2026, according to official data, the commission has already received around 1,100 complaints till March 31, indicating a sustained upward trend.

At 32%, Punjab has the highest Scheduled Caste (SC) population in the country according to the 2011 Census, with nearly 45% of the community concentrated in the Doaba region, comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts.

Commission chairman Jasvir Singh Garhi said nearly 50% of the complain...