Rights situation not satisfactory in Bagmati Province : NHRC

By Our Correspondent, Hetauda, Dec. 13: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Bagmati Provincial Office has said that the province’s human rights situation is not satisfactory. The commission submitted its annual report of the fiscal year 2021/22 with the conclusion to Bagmati Province Chief Yadav Chandra Sharma.

Yagya Prasad Adhikari, head of the NHRC Provincial Office, submitted the report to Provincial Chief Sharma amid a programme held at the Office of the Province Chief in Hetauda on Sunday.

The report stated that women, children, senior citizens, and people living with disabilities, who were displaced by floods, were at increased risk. The report also showed prevalence of caste-based discrimination in the provincial capital and other areas of the province. 

Similarly, the report showed that the cases of gender-based violence were on rise, people were still struggling to obtain citizenship in the name of their mother, and the province lacks disabled-friendly infrastructures. 

The report highlighted how the senior citizens and people of gender minority community are facing discrimination in their family and society. 

The province has also reported increasing cases of custodial torture, sexual violence and discrimination against child in schools. 

According to the report, there has been sexual violence and discrimination against children in schools, torture in detention and inmates were living in overcrowded jails.

According to the NHRC provincial office, 33 complaints of human rights violations were registered at the Bagmati Provincial Office during the fiscal year. The report stated that 597 complaints are pending in the provincial office, including backlog and new complaints registered at the rights body during the fiscal year 2021/22 while the Commission had carried out investigation into 29 incidents related to human rights violations. 

The office has completed investigation into 157 complaints, including the backlog and new complaints, whereas the office had settled 120 complaints.

According to the commission, 15.3 per cent of the commission's recommendations to the government and subordinate agencies for taking action against those involved in human rights violations have been fully implemented, 39.2 per cent have been partially implemented, and 45.5 per cent are yet to be implemented.

The report also mentioned that the provincial office of NHRC monitored all the 13 districts of the province during the local level election held on May 13. 

The Commission further stated that the Bagmati Provincial Government has formed the Human Rights Action Plan Coordinating Committee and started work as envisioned in the 5th five-year action plan on human rights issued by the Government of Nepal.

Chief of the NHRC Bagmati Provincial Office Yagya Adhikari said that there would be qualitative improvement in the human rights situation after the effective implementation of the human rights action plan. 

The NHRC provincial office also recommended the provincial government to invest more for the protection of the economic, social and cultural rights of the marginalised communities such as Chepang, Jirel, Majhi, Dunuwar, Dalit and other communities.