Two days NHRC national seminar on 'Good governance, development and human rights' concludes with several suggestions (20.08.2016)
PRESS RELEASE
New Delhi, 20th August, 2016
The two day national seminar on 'Good governance, development and human rights', organized by the National Human Rights Commission in collaboration with the National Law University concluded in New Delhi today with several important suggestions. While hailing the RTI Act, the lack of awareness about the laws, rules and policies at the grass roots level and people's inaccessibility to governments were some of the major worries, which were thought to be affecting governance. It was felt that the governance required to be more transparent, simplified, using easy digital technologies as a two way communication tool to give the people benefits of the welfare policies and get their feedback.
It was also felt that the definition of health care needed to be expanded in the Indian context. It was also suggested that a provision should be made in the higher education curriculum for the students to visit places to sensitize people at grass root level about their rights and remedies for the redressal of their grievances.
Prior to this, Mr. Justice H.L. Dattu, Chairperson, NHRC had triggered the discussions by saying in his inaugural address that there had been some progress in bringing transparency in governance and the fight against the simpler forms of corruption but deep-seated organized political or systematic corruption could paralyze a nation. A country cannot be considered having good governance, if the people of that country are corrupt and the population grows rapidly.
He said that the governments must strive to rid themselves of corruption and bribery and become accountable and transparent in order to preserve the integrity of democracy. The funds meant for realizing full human rights of people get diverted due to corruption. Advocating research to find solutions to end the menace of corruption, he said that without achieving certain optimum standards of efficiency, it would be difficult for the country to reach the 17 new Sustainable Developments Goals.
Prof. Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University reiterated in his concluding remarks that with more and more people with criminal background getting elected to Parliament, how could anyone expect that human rights will be protected. He said that there are several laws of the British era which needed to be repealed including the one on sedition which was used by them to oppress and muzzle the free voice.
Questioning the intents of the governments for their seriousness towards the good governance, Prof. Singh said they are yet to act on long pending the Supreme Court guidelines on police reforms and the Model Police Act. He said that a charter of duties must be set at every level of governance from top to bottom to improve governance as the right to equality, dignity, life and liberty in the country still appear to be a distant dream for many. Blame theory is not going to work. The NHRC cannot say that we don't have powers. Every individual and institution will have to come forward to help improve the governance in the country.
The seminar divided into four academic sessions was addressed by eminent persons and domain experts on the subjects of 'Accountability, Transparency and Human Rights', 'Identifying Challenges to Good Governance and Development', 'Creating Digital democracy through e-Governance' & 'Identifying Challenges to good governance and development and Road Ahead.'
The objective of the seminar was to raise awareness about the importance of good governance in relation to human rights and development and identify the areas of concern in this regard.
It was addressed by several prominent speakers including, among others, Ms. Maja Daruwala, Director (I/c), CHRI, Mr. Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, My Gov. & COO-NeGD, Dr. D.R. Kaarthikeyan, Former Director, CBI & DG-NHRC, Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Kumar Sinha, Director, ILI, Prof. Binod Khadria, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Mr. Rahul Dev, Sr. Journalist & Writer, Dr. Sachin Chowdhry, Associate Professor, IIPA, Mr. P.S. Bawa, Chairman, Transparency International India, Dr. Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, Citizen Service Centers ,Mr. Venkatesh Nayak, CHRI, and NHRC Joint Secretary, Dr. Ranjit Singh and Dr. S.K. Shukla, Asstt.Director(OL).
New Delhi, 20th August, 2016
The two day national seminar on 'Good governance, development and human rights', organized by the National Human Rights Commission in collaboration with the National Law University concluded in New Delhi today with several important suggestions. While hailing the RTI Act, the lack of awareness about the laws, rules and policies at the grass roots level and people's inaccessibility to governments were some of the major worries, which were thought to be affecting governance. It was felt that the governance required to be more transparent, simplified, using easy digital technologies as a two way communication tool to give the people benefits of the welfare policies and get their feedback.
It was also felt that the definition of health care needed to be expanded in the Indian context. It was also suggested that a provision should be made in the higher education curriculum for the students to visit places to sensitize people at grass root level about their rights and remedies for the redressal of their grievances.
Prior to this, Mr. Justice H.L. Dattu, Chairperson, NHRC had triggered the discussions by saying in his inaugural address that there had been some progress in bringing transparency in governance and the fight against the simpler forms of corruption but deep-seated organized political or systematic corruption could paralyze a nation. A country cannot be considered having good governance, if the people of that country are corrupt and the population grows rapidly.
He said that the governments must strive to rid themselves of corruption and bribery and become accountable and transparent in order to preserve the integrity of democracy. The funds meant for realizing full human rights of people get diverted due to corruption. Advocating research to find solutions to end the menace of corruption, he said that without achieving certain optimum standards of efficiency, it would be difficult for the country to reach the 17 new Sustainable Developments Goals.
Prof. Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University reiterated in his concluding remarks that with more and more people with criminal background getting elected to Parliament, how could anyone expect that human rights will be protected. He said that there are several laws of the British era which needed to be repealed including the one on sedition which was used by them to oppress and muzzle the free voice.
Questioning the intents of the governments for their seriousness towards the good governance, Prof. Singh said they are yet to act on long pending the Supreme Court guidelines on police reforms and the Model Police Act. He said that a charter of duties must be set at every level of governance from top to bottom to improve governance as the right to equality, dignity, life and liberty in the country still appear to be a distant dream for many. Blame theory is not going to work. The NHRC cannot say that we don't have powers. Every individual and institution will have to come forward to help improve the governance in the country.
The seminar divided into four academic sessions was addressed by eminent persons and domain experts on the subjects of 'Accountability, Transparency and Human Rights', 'Identifying Challenges to Good Governance and Development', 'Creating Digital democracy through e-Governance' & 'Identifying Challenges to good governance and development and Road Ahead.'
The objective of the seminar was to raise awareness about the importance of good governance in relation to human rights and development and identify the areas of concern in this regard.
It was addressed by several prominent speakers including, among others, Ms. Maja Daruwala, Director (I/c), CHRI, Mr. Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, My Gov. & COO-NeGD, Dr. D.R. Kaarthikeyan, Former Director, CBI & DG-NHRC, Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Kumar Sinha, Director, ILI, Prof. Binod Khadria, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Mr. Rahul Dev, Sr. Journalist & Writer, Dr. Sachin Chowdhry, Associate Professor, IIPA, Mr. P.S. Bawa, Chairman, Transparency International India, Dr. Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, Citizen Service Centers ,Mr. Venkatesh Nayak, CHRI, and NHRC Joint Secretary, Dr. Ranjit Singh and Dr. S.K. Shukla, Asstt.Director(OL).