A two-day Capacity Building Workshop on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was jointly organized by the Commission and the Indian Institute of Public Administration on 27 & 28 November 2003 in Delhi.
Inaugurating the workshop, Chairperson Dr. Justice A.S. Anand emphasized that it is the obligation of the state to ensure that everyone has the right to adequate food, education and enjoyment of highest attainable standards of physical and mental health. These rights he said have to be respected and made available to the citizens by the State.
Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights a State party is obliged to use all steps to achieve progressively for the full realization of the rights recognized in the covenant, Justice Anand said, these include adoption of legislative means, which are to be exercised on a non-discriminatory basis.
India being a signatory to Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and other international instruments, is legally as well as morally committed to ensure basic human rights to all its citizens and enact laws accordingly, he said.
Justice Anand called for ratifying the treaties the country has been delaying for so long, so as to give a practical shape to the resolution for protecting and promoting human rights. Justice Anand however cautioned that while seeking our rights one should not overlook our duties and obligations as citizens. He emphasized the need to assist the society and to achieve equilibrium and balance.
The two-day workshop was attended by the faculty of the National and State Administrative Training Institutes and served to sensitize the participants on the importance of the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and their application to domestic laws and public policies.