Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is a Government of India ministry. It is responsible for welfare, social justice and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, including scheduled castes (SC), Other Backward Classes (OBC), LGBT people, the disabled, the elderly, and the victims of drug abuse. 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 rank as a member of the Council of Ministers. The current minister is Virendra Kumar, who is assisted by two ministers of state, Ramdas Athawale and B. L. Verma.

History
In 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 Departments of Scheduled Castes Development, Tribal Development, and Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Wakf of the Ministry of Law were separated from those ministry to form the new Ministry of Welfare.

The Ministry of Welfare was renamed as the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in May 1998. In October 1999, the Department of Tribal Development was separated to form the new and independent Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In May 2004 following the formation of the First Manmohan Singh ministry, the Department of Women and Child Development was separated to form an independent ministry to be known as the Ministry of Women and Child Development, while in January 2006, the Departments of Minorities Welfare and the Wakf were separated to form the Ministry of Minority Affairs. To propagate the ideologies and philosophy of Babu Jagjivan Ram, 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.

https://dwbdnc.dosje.gov.in/
 * Statutory Bodies
 * Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, New Delhi
 * National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities
 * Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
 * National Institutes
 * Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai (AYJNIHH)
 * Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi (formerly Institute for the Physically Handicapped (IPH))
 * National Institute for Locomotor Disabilities, Kolkata
 * National Institute of Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad (NIMH)
 * National Institute of Visually Handicapped (NIVH), Dehradun
 * National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research, Cuttack (NIRTAR)
 * National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai
 * Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLRTC)
 * National Institute of Social Defence (NISD)
 * Public sector undertakings
 * National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC)
 * National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC)
 * Development and Welfare Board for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Communities (DWBDNC)
 * Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Kanpur

*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

Cabinet Ministers

 * Note: MoS, I/C – Minister of State (Independent Charge)