The National Conference of Chairpersons of Committees of Parliament and State Legislatures on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes began on Friday in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, reported ANI.

The two-day conference was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. On this occasion, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, while highlighting the prominence of Parliament in the democracy, said, “Parliament and its committees serve as a powerful platform to realise the ideals of social, economic and political justice enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution.”

The Deputy Chairperson further stated that the Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, constituted in 1968, studies the reports of national commissions and examines the steps taken by the government, reported ANI.