CURTAIN RAISER<br> <br> NHRC's three day Camp Sitting at Puducherry from the 28th to 30th April, 2015 (21.4.2015)

New Delhi, 21st April, 2015

The National Human Rights Commission will be holding its three days Camp Sitting at Puducherry from the 28th to 30th April, 2015 to consider the pending cases of Union Territory, to visit jail, hospitals besides holding meetings with the NGOs and senior officers of the U.T. and important human rights issues concerning Puducherry like suicides in prisons.

The Commission will take up cases in Single Bench Sitting headed by Mr. Justice D. Murugesan, Member and will also hear the petitioners and the State authorities.

He will inaugurate the Camp Sitting on the 28th April, 2015 at 10.00 A.M. at Conference Hall, Chief Secretariat, Goubert Avenue, Puducherry - 605001. During the Camp Sitting at the same venue from 11.00 A.M. onwards, the Commission will hear the 41 cases. The Commission has also issued notices to concerned authorities and intimations to the petitioners to remain present at the time of hearing.

On the 2nd day, i.e., the 29th April, 2015, the Commission will take up the hearing of cases which could not be taken on the Day 1. On the same day, the Commission will visit to the hospital and jails in order to ascertain the problems being faced by the patients, jail inmates and State authorities.

On the concluding day of Camp Sitting, i.e., on the 30th April, 2015, the Commission will hold a Meeting with local NGOs from 10.00 AM to 11.00 A.M. Thereafter, the Commission will hold discussions with the Chief Secretary and other senior officers of the Union Territory of Puducherry on important human rights issues raised by the NGOs.

The following issues are also likely to be taken up during discussion with senior officers of the U.T. of Puducherry:

1. Bonded Labour / Migrant Labour.
2. Police Atrocities.
3. Atrocities on Scheduled Castes, and Non- filling of vacancies reserved for SCs.
4. Grabbing of land of SCs.
5. Implementation of flagship programmes of Govt. of India and other welfare schemes of the U.T. of Puducherry.
6. Jail Reforms.
7. Delay in submission of reports.
8. Any other issue relating to violation of human rights.

The National Human Rights Commission has been organizing Camp Sittings in different States / UT Administration with an aim to dispose of pending cases concerning one particular State / U.T. by hearing the senior govt. officers, sensitize them about the importance of human rights issues and compliance of NHRC recommendations by them, meet the local NGOs to get an insight into the problems being faced by the people.

In the past, the NHRC has also organized its Full Commission, Division Bench Camp Sittings in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengaluru, Karnataka (for four Southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu), Odisha, Gujarat, Assam, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh (for the States of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and U.T. of Chandigarh), Kerala and Single Bench Sittings in Gujarat, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh in order to dispose of the cases of the particular State and to create awareness on human rights.

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