Bhopal, Feb 4 (IANS) Uplift of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) cannot be ensured by making laws alone and there is a need to change people's mindset also, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said here Thursday.

Addressing a workshop on 'Empowerment of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes' at the R.C.V.P. Noronha Academy of Administration, she said that it is a matter of concern that a workshop is being organised for empowerment of these sections of society even 60 years after independence.

'Political and administrative classes lead the nation. The political class can take a decision but the important responsibility of its implementation rests with the administrative class,' Meira Kumar said.

She said that ground realities of the country can be experienced by visiting villages, towns and districts. On the strength of this experience, they can make suggestions about what new laws are to be formulated.

The Speaker also called for action against those responsible for atrocities on people belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes under Prevention of Atrocities Act, and added that it will lead to a social revolution.

Presiding over the workshop,Madhya Pradesh Minister of State for General Administration K.L. Agrawal said that the state government has launched several schemes, including Ladli Laxmi Yojana and Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana, for the welfare and uplift of the poor, especially the SC/STs.