Sou Moto Cognizance

T he Commission took suo motu cognizance in 02 cases of alleged human rights violations reported by media during March, 2017 and issued notices to the concerned authorities for reports. Summaries of these cases are as follows:
Dead rat in the mid-day meal
(Case No. 907/30/0/2017)
Notice has been issued to the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi, calling for a detailed report on the reported allegations that in Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Deoli, a dead rat was found in the mid-day meal served to the children on the 16th February, 2017. Nine of them had to be rushed to a nearby hospital. The Commission has observed that occurrence of such an incident, if true, amounts to violation of Right to Life of the children. It indicates towards serious lapse on part of the concerned agencies.
The Commission has sought details of the action taken against the concerned agencies as well as the steps taken to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future.
Reportedly, there are 43 NGOs, which are catering to the requirement of mid-day meal to 18.46 lakhs children of the schools run by the Delhi Government. They, allegedly, sublet their contracts to other organizations. In another report, carried on the 27th February, 2017, 95% of 365 meal samples failed to meet nutritional requirements in 2011-12 and 98% of 322 samples failed the tests in 2010-11.
26 child bonded labourers rescued from a factory
(Case No. 952/30/5/2017-CL)
Notices have been issued to the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi and the Police Commissioner, Delhi about the steps taken for relief, issuance of release certificates and rehabilitation of 26 boys, in the age group of 8 to 13 years, who were rescued from bonded labour
in a jeans factory in Seelampur area of North East Delhi.
Expressing serious concern over the incident, the Commission has observed how neither the police nor the civil authorities could check such an illegal activity in the National capital. The Commission has also asked the authorities to inform about the action taken against the guilty employer and preventive measures taken or proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future.
The Commission has also observed that the news report indicates that the employer of these boys committed cruelty upon them. It also highlights the failure of the administration, particularly the labour department in performing mandatory duty as per law.
Reportedly, the job of the rescued bonded labour children was to cut threads of jeans and pack it. The task was to pack 10 pieces of the cloth item in 10 minutes and the one who finished last used to be beaten with a hammer by the employer. The victims were forced to work for 22 hours in a day with a sleep of only two hours. As per report, the employer used to beat them with a hammer, if anyone was found sleeping or going to washroom during work. Due to lengthy sittings, many of them were not able to walk properly. Injury marks were found on their bodies and one of them could not even open his eyes in the sunlight.
All the 26 rescued boys belonged to Motihari district of Bihar. They were brought to Delhi around six months ago. Six of them were from the same village, indicating that they could be the victims of child trafficking. The rescued boys are presently staying at Mukti Ashram, a children home being run by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO headed by the Nobel Laureate Shri Kailash Satyarthi.