The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India was established on 12th October, 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993 as a statutory body for the promotion and protection of human rights as well as generate awareness in the country.
The Commission comprises of Chairperson and five Members including a woman Member. It is supported in its functioning by the five substantive divisions of law, investigation, research, training and administration having specialist officers as part of the secretariat headed by the Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer.
The NHRC, India, conforms with the Paris Principles, adopted at the first international workshop on national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights held in Paris in October 1991, and endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations by its Regulations 48/134 of 20 December, 1993.
The NHRC is an embodiment of India’s concern for the promotion and protection of human rights in line with its Constitution.
Section 2 (1) (d) of the PHRA defines Human Rights as the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India.
The functions of the Commission are stated in Section 12 of the Act. Apart from enquiry and recommending relief into the complaints of violation of human rights due to negligence in the prevention of such violation by a public servant, the Commission also spreads awareness about human rights through its advisories, camp sittings, spot enquiry visits, training, internships, workshops, seminars, conferences, research, media engagements, social media, newsletters and publications.
It has a number of 'Core Groups' including subject experts, senior officers and civil society representatives on various thematic issues related to human rights. The Commission also has a very robust mechanism of Special Rapporteurs and Special Monitors, who visit various shelter homes, observation homes, old age homes, prisons, hospitals, educational institutions and other such public facilities to assess human rights situation on the ground and report to the Commission for making the necessary recommendations for improvements. It studies treaties and international instruments on human rights and makes recommendations for their effective implementation to the Government.
The NHRC, India is an 'A' status Accredited NHRI with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, GANHRI and a founder member of the Asia Pacific Forum of the NHRIs in the Asia Pacific Region. It is also recognized for its impactful voice at global forums on human rights concerns. It hosted a conference of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) of Asia Pacific and the International Conference on Business & Human Rights in September, 2023.
The Commission also engages with people in general for human rights advocacy. Its annual short film competition on human rights since 2015, moot court competitions in law colleges and universities, painting, quiz and debate competitions are some of such important events. This online photography competition on human rights is also an effort in that direction.
The Commission will have the right to use award-winning photographs on various aspects of human rights for awareness purposes. These will be uploaded on the website of the Commission.
This activity is hosted in collaboration with MyGov.
The Themes for the competition are as follows:
• Child Labour
• Challenges of destitute elderly
• Environmental Hazards impacting life on planet Earth
• Celebrating human rights & values in Indian diversity
• Celebrating gender equality
• Development initiatives improving life and living standards
• LGBTQI+ life, rights and challenges
• Women (rights, challenges, their contribution to the development of the nation
• Beggars
• Disability (rights, challenges, achievements)
The cash prizes are:
• 1st Prize 15,000/-
• 2nd Prize 10,000/-
• 3rd Prize 5,000/-
• 7 consolation prizes of Rs. 2,000/- for each
Any concerns related to NHRC India kindly visit https://nhrc.nic.in/
Click here for terms and conditions (pdf 160KB)
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