From the Editor's Desk
The prison population, mainly comprising under trials, is beyond the capacity of most of the jails but the success is eluding to resolve the issue. Obviously, the amenities and staff may fall short of meeting, sometimes, even the basic requirements of prisoners, who, as human beings, are also entitled to rights, though within the ambit of imprisonment. Colonial concept of prison has changed but it needs to translate into action on the ground to make them as centers of reform in reality to prepare the inmates mentally, physically and vocationally to join the mainstream of society. The NHRC has been persistently trying to draw the attention of the governments to reform prisons with a human rights perspective. Our cover story pegs yet another such effort of the Commission.
It is a noble idea to set up camps in the interiors of the country to provide healthcare services to those who cannot afford and have easy access to them. But, this turns ignoble, if such camps unwittingly become tools of achieving targets neglecting care and hygiene. Botched-up cataract surgeries and sterilizations leading to loss of eyesight and life in two camps in Chhattisgarh will remain in question for this. Unequivocally, such actions need to be condemned which amount to grave violation of human rights of the victim patients who are mostly gullible masses.
The issue of farmers' suicide is again in news and the Commission has taken its cognizance. It cannot be said for sure that all of them commit suicide only because of their inability to repay debt, though, generally, it is understood to be one of the major reasons. Already, our agriculture is heavily dependent on the vagaries of weather. Further, the paucity of nearby markets to sell produce, lack of quality roads, transport to ship them to distant mandis and storage facilities to save produce from rotting and shrinking land holdings have always been a major challenge for our farmers to earn enough and repay loans. Farmers, like anybody else, too need money to meet their requirements. But, at times, one wonders whether the institutional lending mechanism to save the unsuspecting people from the clutches of traditional moneylenders has worked as a good alternative or not.
It is a noble idea to set up camps in the interiors of the country to provide healthcare services to those who cannot afford and have easy access to them. But, this turns ignoble, if such camps unwittingly become tools of achieving targets neglecting care and hygiene. Botched-up cataract surgeries and sterilizations leading to loss of eyesight and life in two camps in Chhattisgarh will remain in question for this. Unequivocally, such actions need to be condemned which amount to grave violation of human rights of the victim patients who are mostly gullible masses.
The issue of farmers' suicide is again in news and the Commission has taken its cognizance. It cannot be said for sure that all of them commit suicide only because of their inability to repay debt, though, generally, it is understood to be one of the major reasons. Already, our agriculture is heavily dependent on the vagaries of weather. Further, the paucity of nearby markets to sell produce, lack of quality roads, transport to ship them to distant mandis and storage facilities to save produce from rotting and shrinking land holdings have always been a major challenge for our farmers to earn enough and repay loans. Farmers, like anybody else, too need money to meet their requirements. But, at times, one wonders whether the institutional lending mechanism to save the unsuspecting people from the clutches of traditional moneylenders has worked as a good alternative or not.