NHRC, India holds a day-long Conference of SHRCs along with its Special Rapporteurs and Special Monitors in virtual mode in New Delhi

📌 Summary:

• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) organised a day-long virtual-mode Conference of the State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) along with its Special Rapporteurs and Special Monitors in New Delhi.

• NHRC Chairperson Justice V. Ramasubramanian noted that the NHRC and SHRCs exercise concurrent jurisdiction on certain matters; he advised maintaining jurisdictional clarity as per the Protection of Human Rights (PHR) Act to reduce unnecessary litigation and avoid duplication of cases.

• He urged SHRCs to digitise and join the common integrated HRCNet portal; so far 23 SHRCs are onboarded, while Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Nagaland are yet to join, and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are onboarded but not yet processing complaints.

• Secretary General Bharat Lal said 4.28 lakh complaints were received over the last five years, with major categories being police-related violations (18%), organised exploitation by mafias (17.4%), service matters (6%) and violations of women's rights (5.8%).

• Members urged SHRCs to increase field visits, engage more with affected communities, strengthen coordination with Special Monitors and Rapporteurs, and bridge the gap between policy intent and ground-level implementation.

• Conference suggestions included strengthening SHRC staffing and infrastructure, improving enforceability of human rights recommendations, prison reforms, rehabilitation of child and bonded labour, focus on mental health, disability and intersex rights, environmental-justice monitoring, and welfare of sanitation and mine workers.

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — Polity and Governance; statutory human rights institutions, Centre-State coordination, and accountability mechanisms.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• The NHRC and SHRCs are established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

• India has the NHRC and 27 SHRCs.

• HRCNet is the NHRC's integrated complaint management portal; 23 SHRCs have onboarded so far.

• Special Rapporteurs and Special Monitors assist the NHRC on thematic areas and zones respectively.

🔑 Key Term: Concurrent jurisdiction — a situation where two authorities (here the NHRC and the SHRCs) can both deal with certain categories of cases, requiring clarity to avoid duplication.