My right is right!

Vol. 6 | issue 7 | August 2012

...by the way

 

My right is right!

HARYANA and human rights, the two do not gel. Thus, it was not surprising that the post of the Chairman of the Haryana Human Rights Commission had been lying vacant for last 18 years. Again, it was not surprising that the recent incidents of violence against certain sections of its population saw the Haryana Government swing into action, albeit 18 years late! Swinging into action last month, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had a meeting with Leader of Opposition Om Prakash Chautala on who they should appoint as the head of the Human Rights Commission. Despite their differences, the two unanimously agreed on appointing the former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Vijender Jain. They also agreed, albeit with some protests from Chautala, on who the two other members of this ‘almost defunct’ institution should be: former judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court H S Bhalla and retired IAS officer J S Ahlawat. So far so good. Now that its members have been nominated, what remains to be seen is the time it will take for the Commission to get its office infrastructure in place: it has no office or staff. As many bureaucrats say, if took 18 years to appoint key personae, one can be sure that it will take some time to get the requisite infrastructure in place. “It could even be after the term of the just-appointed members expires.” But people who know Vijender Jain say he is a doer and knows how the government works. This apart, he has been breaking bread with both Hooda and Chautala. One can only wait and watch to see whether Haryana finally bonds with human rights.