Chandigarh: The Haryana State Human Rights Commission has disposed of nearly 97 percent of the complaints it received since its formation on this day 10 years ago, Chairperson Justice (Retd) SK Mittal said on Monday.
The human rights panel received 23,192 complaints of various nature during this period and disposed of 22,454, he said.
“Of the 23,192 complaints of various nature during the period, 22,454 have been disposed of,” Justice Mittal said.
Referring to cases of custodial death, he told reporters at a press conference here, “Be it inside jail or in police custody, there has been an increase in such cases.
“Custodial death matters are serious…”
In cases of custodial death, compensation is awarded in accordance with the state government’s policy, framed on the recommendations made by the commission in a complaint case, he said.
According to the policy, a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh is paid to the next of kin or legal heirs of prisoners on account of natural deaths in the following cases: due to quarrel among prisoners, torture or beating by prison staff, negligence in duty by officers/officials and Rs 5 lakh due to negligence by medical officers or paramedics.
“This policy was also adopted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Further, the NHRC requested all state human rights commissions to formulate the compensation policy along the lines of Haryana,” he said.
According to data provided by the commission, between January 2016 and November 2022, the commission received 18,659 complaints from across the state. The maximum complaints — 1,609 — were from Faridabad district, followed by Gurugram with 1,549, Panipat with 1,524, Sonipat with 1,249 and Hisar with 1,155.
Of these, a maximum 8,367 were related to the police, 139 to pollution/ecology, 1,035 to women, 175 to children and 33 to the minorities.
“We also get complaints where some beneficiaries claim that they are not getting benefits of social welfare schemes,” he said, adding that genuine complaints were disposed of in a matter of days.
Justice Mittal said the commission had earlier also received a few odd complaints where beneficiaries claimed that they were denied benefits under schemes meant for people Below the Poverty Line (BPL) on the grounds that they had a television, fridge or a scooter.
He said the state government had said people with a total verified annual income up to Rs 1.80 lakh was considered as BPL.
The commission also carries out inspections in jails, Justice Mittal said.
“We get a few odd complaints regarding torture, of prisoners not getting proper food. We take reports from prison authorities and if we feel the report is not correct, the commission conducts further investigations,” he said.
The panel has also initiated proceedings on incidents of human rights violation in more than 150 cases after taking suo motu cognisance on the basis of reports published in different newspapers, Justice Mittal said.
He also said maximum complaints were against the police. However, many complaints also turned out to be false.
On the issue of child marriages, he said the commission was running awareness programmes in schools. Child marriages were seen in Nuh and some areas of Sirsa and Fatehabad, Justice Mittal said.
The commission also holds a camp court in Gurugram twice a month to address the complaints of Haryana’s six southern districts — Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Mahendergarh, Rewari and Mewat.
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