(a) whether the Government has organized the conference of the National
and State Human Rights Commissions in the recent past;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of important issues taken up and decided during the said conference;
(d) the names of States/UTs which participated in the said conference; and
(e) the names of the States which have set up State Human Rights Commission along with the steps taken to set up such Commission in all the States?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)
(a) & (b): The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has organized a Conference of National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) on 18th September 2015 at New Delhi.
(c): The following important issues were discussed in the Conference:
i) How to make NHRC and SHRCs stronger and effective?
ii) Area of co-operation and coordination between NHRC and SHRCs.
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iii) Complaints Management System and inter-linking of NHRC and SHRCs and
iv) Best practices in complaint handling and enquiry.
Recommendations based on the discussions of the National Conference of the NHRC and SHRCs are given as per Annexure.
(d) : The following State Human Rights Commissions have participated in the said Conference:
Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
(e): As per the information received from NHRC, the following States have set up State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs). (1)Andhra Pradesh, (2)Assam, (3)Bihar, (4)Chattisgarh (5)Goa, (6)Gujarat, (7)Haryana, (8)Himachal Pradesh, (9)Jammu & Kashmir, (10)Jharkhand, (11)Karnataka, (12)Kerala, (13)Madhya Pradesh, (14)Maharashtra, (15)Manipur, (16)Meghalaya, (17)Odisha, (18)Punjab, (19)Rajasthan, (20)Sikkim, (21)Tamil Nadu, (22)Telengana (23)Uttar Pradesh, (24)Uttarakhand and (25)West Bengal.
Constitution of State Human Rights Commission in Meghalaya has been notified but the appointment of Chairperson and Members has not been made so far.
Andhra Pradesh and Telengana are having a combined State Human Rights Commission.
As per Section 21 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, it is for the State Government to take action for setting up of State Human Rights Commission. However, the National Human Rights Commission has from time to time requested the State Governments to establish SHRCs at an early date and the Central Government has also regularly written to the States concerned to expedite the setting up of SHRCs.
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