- The Cabinet has cleared the long-pending Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018, for better protection and promotion of human rights as well as strengthening human rights institutions in the country.
Salient features of the Bill
- The Bill proposes to include the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights as a deemed member, besides adding a woman member to the panel.
- It also suggests incorporating a mechanism to look after the cases of human rights violation in the Union Territories.
- The bill also proposes to enlarge the scope of eligibility and selection of the chairperson of National Human rights Commission (NHRC) as well as the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
- Further, the bill proposes to amend the term of the chairperson and members of the NHRC and SHRC to make it in consonance with the terms of chairperson and members of other commissions. Complying with international norms, the amendments will have to be ratified by Parliament.
The amendments will strengthen human rights bodies for effective discharge of their mandates, roles and responsibilities. Moreover, the amended Act will be in sync with the agreed global standards and benchmarks to ensure rights related to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual in the country.
NHRC
The NHRC was constituted under the Protection of Human Rights Act in 1993. The Act was last amended in 2006. The commission includes a chairperson, an incumbent or retired Supreme Court judge, a former Chief Justice of a High Court, and two persons with expertise in matters related to human rights, as members. The chairperson and members are appointed by the President on recommendations of a six-member committee chaired by the Prime Minister.
Source: Indian Express
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