VIJAYAWADA : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday conducted a one-day camp sitting and open hearing to hear the pending cases of human rights violations in Andhra Pradesh.
The camp sitting, presided by NHRC chairperson Justice Arun Mishra and attended by other commission members, including Dnyaneshwar M Mulay, Rajiv Jain and Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, was held in Vijayawada and heard the cases in the presence of secretary general Bharat Lal, registrar (Law) Surajit Dey, and other senior officers of the commision.
During the sitting, as many as 30 cases pertaining to violation of human rights were heard and appropriate directions were passed to officials concerned. The departments were also told to provide compensation worth around Rs 80 lakh to the complainants whose rights are found to be violated. The camp sitting also focused on generating awareness amongst the officials of the State government, its parastatal organisations and non-government organisations (NGOs) defending human rights.
The NHRC passed appropriate directions to the concerned officials. In one hearing the commission clarified that there is no compulsion for medical students to stay in hostels and pay unaffordable exorbitant fees. It also directed the police department to pay compensation of Rs 25,000 to a sarpanch, who was illegally detained. In another hearing NHRC ordered payment of interest on delayed pensionary benefits.
The human rights commission instructed the State functionaries to submit proposals before the POCSO court to recommend compensation for victims of sexual abuse. “The commission asked the department concerned to ensure that payment for compensation under ‘Victim Compensation Scheme’ is as per the guidelines framed by NALSA,” Mishra added.
After hearing the cases, the Commission held a meeting with Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy, Director General of Police Kasireddy Rajendranath Reddy and senior officers of the State government for their sensitisation about human rights. The commission also informed that any individual can file complaints of human rights violations online through hrcnet.nic.in. The chairperson and members of the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission also participated in the meeting.
The commission asked the officials to submit detailed reports on action taken on various advisories issued by the commission on issues such as mental health, bonded labour, right to food and safety and others.