The National Human Rights Commission has sent notices to the Maharashtra government and collectors of eight districts in the state's Marathwada region over reported rising instances of child marriage, a senior official said on Friday. The Commission has observed that the contents of the article about the plight of the victims of child marriages, if true, amount to a violation of human rights relating to their life, liberty, dignity, and equality of the poor people, especially the women in the region. The NHRC in a statement said it has taken "suo motu cognisance of a newspaper article highlighting the malpractice of child marriage prevailing in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra due to which a large number of women are forced to lead a miserable life. The article has documented the plight of some child marriage victims in the region". Accordingly, the Commission has issued notices to the chief secretary of Maharashtra and the district collectors of Jalna, Aurangabad, Parbhani, ...
As the death toll in Bihar's Chhapra due to the consumption of spurious liquor mounted to 72, Union Minister Nityanand Rai on Sunday accused the state government of "hiding" the actual number
The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Bihar government and the state's police chief over the Saran hooch tragedy in which at least 30 people have died, officials said on Friday. The sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar in April 2016, though its "implementation has been patchy," the NHRC observed in a statement. The Saran hooch tragedy toll rose to 30 on Friday, the biggest since Bihar went dry more than six years ago, and it continued to cast a shadow on the state legislature where BJP members disrupted proceedings in both Houses before staging a Raj Bhavan march. However, unconfirmed reports claimed up to 50 people died by drinking illicitly brewed country liquor. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has "taken suo motu cognisance of the media reports that several people have died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Saran district of Bihar," it said. The commission has observed that the contents of the media repor
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the governments of Bihar and Tamil Nadu over the alleged abuse of 12 orphans in a madrassa in the southern state. The Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that said two persons have been arrested in Chennai for housing and abusing orphaned juveniles from Bihar. Twelve children were rescued from the madrassa located at Ponniammanmedu, the NHRC said. The commission has issued notices to the chief secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Bihar and the Chennai police commissioner calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks. The media report published on December 1 claimed that police had got information through the '1098' helpline that some children are being subjected to harassment and physical abuse in a madrassa at Ponniammanmedu near Madhavaram in Chennai, the NHRC said. It was reported that a criminal case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the accu
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the governments of Bihar and Tamil Nadu over the alleged abuse of 12 orphaned children in a madrassa in the southern state. The commission has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that said two persons have been arrested in Chennai for housing and abusing orphaned juveniles from Bihar. Twelve children were rescued from the madrassa located at Ponniammanmedu, the NHRC said. The commission has issued notices to the chief secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Bihar and the Chennai police commissioner calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks. The media report published on December 1 claimed that police had got information through the '1098' helpline that some children are being subjected to harassment and physical abuse in a madrassa at Ponniammanmedu near Madhavaram in Chennai, the NHRC said. It was reported that a criminal case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Coder a
Reportedly, the patients were told that the eye surgeries were being done at a free camp but were charged Rs 1500 each
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Delhi government to fix a timeline to rectify the cause of poor air quality at hotspots and inquired about the status of alternative landfill sites. The NHRC on Friday held the third hearing of chief secretaries of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi on air pollution in Delhi NCR in light of reports submitted by them in response to its directions in the last meeting. Seeking further reports, the next date of hearing has been fixed for November 25. "The commission asked the Delhi government to fix a timeline to find out and rectify the cause of poor air quality at the hot spots and when these will become normal. The commission also enquired about the status of alternative landfill sites for garbage disposal and cleaning thereof," it said in a statement. While taking note of some of the actions taken by the state governments to control air pollution by managing stubble, dust, and hospital sewage, among others, the panel ..
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The commission recently heard the responses of the Chief Secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh in connection with its suo motu cognizance of unabated air pollution in Delhi- NCR
After hearing the responses of the chief secretaries of Delhi and three neighbouring states on the pollution issue, the NHRC on Saturday said farmers are burning stubble "under compulsion" and it is due to the "failure" of the four state governments that stubble burning is happening. Alarmed over the rise in pollution in Delhi-NCR, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had recently asked the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to appear before it on November 10 to discuss the matter. The Commission, after considering the responses of the states concerned and the government of Delhi, and the deliberations thereon, is of the opinion that the "farmers are burning stubble under compulsion," the NHRC said in a statement on Saturday. "The state governments have to provide harvest machines to get rid of those stubble, but they have failed to provide an adequate number of requisite machines and other measures; as a result, farmers are forced to burn the ...
The commission said that incidents of stubble burning should be strictly curtailed. It said that if the situation was not improved, a heavy penalty would be imposed on Punjab
Alarmed over the rise in pollution in Delhi-NCR, the NHRC has asked the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to appear before it on November 10 to discuss the matter, an official statement said on Friday. The National Human Rights Commission said it is "not satisfied" with the actions taken so far to address the issue and that "much more" needs to be done to reduce pollution in Delhi. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi stood at 426 (severe) at 9:30 am on Friday, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. An AQI above 400 is considered 'severe' and can affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing illnesses. The NHRC asked the chief secretaries to inform it within a week about the steps taken by their respective governments to stop stubble burning. "Their reports must also inform about the effect of smog towers and anti-smog guns. It should also have information on how many anti-smog guns are operational and what further st
The NHRC on Thursday issued a notice to Rajasthan government over reports that girls are being auctioned on stamp paper in half a dozen districts of the state and the refusal thereof is resulting in the "rape of their mothers to settle financial disputes on the diktats of caste panchayats". The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report, it said in a statement. The chief secretary of Rajasthan and the state's director general of police (DGP) have been asked to respond to the commission within four weeks. Citing a media report, the NHRC said that whenever there is a dispute between the two parties particularly involving financial transactions and loans, girls aged between eight years and 18 years are auctioned to recover money. A media report said that after being auctioned, these girls are sent to UP, MP, Mumbai, Delhi and even foreign countries and subjected to physical abuse, torture and sexual assault in slavery. If true, the contents
NHRC chairperson Justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra on Wednesday said "fruits of reservation have not percolated to the bottom". In his address at the National Human Rights Commission Foundation Day here, Mishra also pressed for urgent jail reforms. "Several measures have been taken for socio-economic and political upliftment of the marginalised sections of the society. More affirmative action is needed. The time has come to clarify that unrepresented classes in services are provided reservation within the reserved category itself to ensure overall development, because fruits of reservation have not percolated to the bottom," he said. Though India has many socio-economic welfare schemes, "reservation is still needed for upliftment," the NHRC chief said. Mishra also flagged many other human rights-related issues and emphasised that gender equality and equality for all was important.
A discussion was held at the National Human Rights Commission here on Monday and the release of the 11 convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case figured in it, sources said. NHRC chairperson Justice (retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra headed the discussion, they said. However, there was no official version from the NHRC on the discussion. The 11 convicts walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail. A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gangrape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano's family. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court. Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence that broke out after the Godhra train burning. Among those killed was her three-year-old daughter.
India has registered 813 cases of encounter killings in the last six years
The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre, the National Human Rights Commission and seven states and union territories to a PIL seeking enforcement of fundamental rights of people
The National Human Rights Commission has ensured that a woman got the family pension which had been "denied" to her for over 30 years since her husband died in 1987, officials said.
Condemning the attack on the Hindu community in Bangladesh the country's NHRC has said that communal violence in a "secular country" is not acceptable under any circumstances
The complaint stated that the lawyers were not a part of the protest and were performing their professional duty towards the Congress party