NHRC to kick off two-day camp sitting in Bhubaneswar tomorrow

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) NHRC Chairperson Justice V. Ramasubramanian will preside over a special two-day camp sitting in Bhubaneswar starting Monday to hear cases related to trafficking of girl child, witchcraft and sorcery accusations and crimes against women, an official said.

Human rights case linked to death due to snake bites and lack of medical support; flooding issues faced by over five families in Bhadrak, Kendrapada and other coastal districts; crimes against women and attacks on journalists are also expected to figure during the hearing.

The State authorities and the complainants have been asked to remain present at the hearing of these cases to facilitate on-the-spot deliberations and decisions.

After the hearing of the cases, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team will meet with the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and other senior officers of the state to deliberate on issues of the promotion and protection of human rights, said a statement.

Other rights panel functionaries at the sitting include members Justice (Dr) Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, Vijaya Bharathi Sayani and Priyank Kanoongo.

NHRC Secretary General Bharat Lal, Registrar (Law)Joginder Singh and other senior officers will also be attending the Camp Sitting and open hearing.

The Camp Sitting of the rights panel also aims to sensitise officers about human rights by delivering speedy justice to victims of rights violations.

The rights panel will also interact with the representatives of civil society organisations, NGOs and Human Rights Defenders (HRDs).

The Commission plans to meet representatives of civil society organisations, NGOs and HRDs on Tuesday.

“A media briefing will be held about the outcome of the camp sitting to have a wider dissemination of information on the human rights issues in the State and the actions taken by the NHRC,” said the official statement.

Over the past 18 years, the NHRC has held camp sittings in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Odisha, Gujarat, Assam, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

--IANS

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