Chapter 6 EVALUATION AND CHALLENGE 6.1 Evaluation of the last Year The formation of the National Human Rights Commission on 26 May 2000 was an important event in the history of human rights in the country. It was natural that people had high expectations from the Commission formed after the passage of the Human Rights Commission Act (1997) and lot of pressure put on the government by the people and the civil society. Although the Commission following its formation has received assistance from all sectors, there have also however been unsuccessful attempts to tarnish its image. Despite this, there has not been any significant impact on the activities of the Commission. Even before the formation of the Commission, the government had formed a task force with a view to facilitating the initial activities of the Commission. The task force had given suggestions about the physical resources, budget and personnel and about the regulations to be brought forth by the Commission. The details of this are given in Annex 2. The report by the task force paved the way for preparing a basic structure of the Commission. And as the task force had recommended with considerable perspicacity the physical resources and budget required by the Commission in its initial stage, the Commission was greatly encouraged about being able to undertake its activities without any hindrances. The Commission carried out necessary deliberations on the regulations prepared by the task force (except for the regulation related to the meeting of the Commission (Work procedure) and sent them to the government for suggestions. The Commission, however, had to wait for nine months to receive the suggestions of the government. Consequently, the Commission during the period had to carry out its activities based on decisions on an ad-hoc basis. Given the absence of regulation related to complaints and compensation, the Commission could not take its decisions on complaints, investigation and compensation, and was unable to provide relief to the aggrieved in time. Although the task force in its report had recommended a budget of Rs. 16,035,000 for the Commission in its first year, the government provided about Rs. 1,300,000 in the first stage. And for the fiscal year 2000/2001 the government released an amount of only Rs. 5,000,000. As the amount was not given in the form of a grant, as provided for by the human rights Commission Act (1997), but was given to the Commission under the budget heading set forth by the Finance Ministry, the Commission could not take its decisions independently and had to face considerable obstacles in its work. Also, as the amount was not sufficient even for running the office and for salaries, the Commission had to make great efforts for the release from the government of an additional amount of Rs. 664,000 to pay the salaries of the staff. This, consequently, hindered the Commission in its responsibility of carrying out activities related to the study, research, protection and promotion of human rights.