The government has constituted a committee under the joint supervision of the home and foreign ministries to create a structured mechanism to oversee issues related to human rights reporting obligations to treaty bodies and the universal periodic review (UPR) done by the UN Human Rights Council.
The “interministerial committee on human rights” will also deliberate on and oversee the implementation of recommendations made during the UPR and engage with local stakeholders.
The latest UPR of India’s human rights record was done on November 10 last year and India received close to 340 recommendations, though authorities in New Delhi are yet to decide how many of these will be implemented, people familiar with the matter said.
The panel, according to a gazette notification issued by the external affairs ministry on Friday, will function as the “national mechanism” on human rights-related issues and meet twice a year.
“The Committee shall function as the national mechanism for implementation, reporting and follow-up with the mandate to deliberate upon and oversee… all human rights reporting obligations to the treaty bodies, the universal periodic review and the special procedures; implementation of their recommendations; and modalities for engagement with national stakeholders,” it said.
The secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry and special secretary in ministry of home affairs will co-chair the interministerial committee, while joint secretaries in the ministries of women and child development, social justice and empowerment, minority affairs, tribal affairs, rural development, housing and urban affairs, health and family welfare, labour and employment, school education and literacy, legal affairs, corporate affairs and NITI Aayog will be part of it.
The panel can include more members from other ministries and departments to share inputs in the meetings if it desires.
Reacting to the development, Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said “It is very welcome that the government has set up a committee to enforce its international treaty obligation. Hope this will include bolstering the independence of institutions like the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission), NCW (National Commission for Women), NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) and other constitutional bodies, as well as robust engagement with civil society including government critics”.
