NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Chapter 3 NHRC : ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS 3.1 The NHRC, India was set up by an act of Parliament on 12 October 1993, known as the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA). The reason for enacting it was the ‘better protection and promotion of human rights’. It is an institution which acts as a compliment to the judiciary and is engaged in – the protection and promotion of the constitutionally enshrined fundamental human rights of all people in the country. 3.2 As per the Act, ‘human rights’ means the ‘rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India’. “International Covenants” means the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).The Government of India acceded to the ICCPR and ICESER in 1979. It ratified the CEDAW in 1993, the CRC in 1991 and the CERD in 1968. It would not be out of place to mention that the Constitution of India takes into account all those features that have been spelt out in the above-mentioned conventions. Many of the rights referred to in the ICCPR and the ICESCR were available to Indian citizens when India became independent as these rights are primarily reflected in Part III and Part IV of the Constitution under the broad heading of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy. 3.3 Unquestionably, the greatest strength of the PHRA has been to provide the Commission with ‘independence, functional autonomy and broad mandate’, which are essential to the composition and proper functioning of a NHRI conforming with the Paris Principles. NHRC, India is an embodiment of India’s concern for the promotion and protection of human rights. 3.4 The experience of NHRC-India, ever since it came into existence, has shown that its independence and strength is well guaranteed by the requirements of the statute relating to its composition, appointments procedure, powers relating to inquiries, extensive range of functions and specialized divisions and staff. 30 ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017