for Scheduled Castes, Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, Chairperson of the National Commission
for Scheduled Tribes and Shri Naseem Ahmad, Chairperson of the National Commission
for Minorities continued to be deemed Members whereas Ms. Lalitha Kumaramangalam,
Chairperson of the National Commission for Women assumed office on 29 September
2014.
1.5 Shri Rajesh Kishore, IAS (GUJ:1980) succeeded Dr. Parvinder Sohi Behuria (IRS :
77), as the Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer of the NHRC on 8 July 2014 upon
the superannuation of the latter on 31 March 2014. Prior to joining the NHRC, Shri Rajesh
Kishore was posted as Additional Chief Secretary in the Departmentof Health and Family
Welfare (Medical Services & Medical Education), Government of Gujarat. Smt. Kanwaljit
Deol, IPS (AGMU : 77), continued to work as Director General (Investigation) in the NHRC
and superannuated on 31October 2014. Shri A. K. Garg and Shri J. S. Kochher (IES:1986)
continued to function as Registrar (Law) and Joint Secretary (Training & Research) in
the NHRC respectively.On 27 October 2014, Dr. Ranjit Singh assumed office as Joint
Secretary (Programme & Administration) in the NHRC. Before joining the Commission he
was working as Colonel (Guards), Station Head Quarters, Amritsar Cantonment.
1.6 During the period under review, the Commission continued to focus on a wide range
of activities in consonance with the diverse functions envisaged for it under Section 12 of
its Statute. Needless to mention these functions are vast in scope. In essence, the Statute
requires the Commission to function on two tracks simultaneously : one, immediate, in
order to seek redress and remedy for immediate wrongs; the other, long-term, to strive for
the development of a culture of human rights over the length and breadth of the country.
These, at the same time, are inter-related. Together, these have determined the issues on
which focussed attention is being given by the Commission.
1.7 Accordingly, the Commission remained engaged, suo-motu or on the basis of
complaints, with instances of custodial death and rape, death in police custody, illegal
detention and torture, police high-handedness, death in police and para-military firing and
encounter, atrocities against vulnerable sections of society – women, children, disabled
and the elderly – often compounded when they belong to the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. In fact, the Commission from 2012 onwards started the process of
holding open hearings on atrocities committed against Scheduled Castes in different parts
of the country. Many of these atrocities relate to police inaction, biased investigation by
police officers, crime against women, sexual assault, civil disputes and other violations.
It is for similar reasons that social evils such as human trafficking and bonded and child
labour continued to receive the attention of the Commission along with concerns relating
to economic, social and cultural rights. The Commission furthermore remained occupied
in addressing concernsraised as part of the second cycle of the universal periodic review
of India undertaken by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2012. It will be seen
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National Human Right Commission Annual Report - 2014-2015