HUMAN RIGHTS
Almost everyday there are chilling instances of violence, ethnic cleansing, heinous torture, child abuse,
man slaughter and several other human rights violations. Despite the adoption of the Universal
Declaration Human Rights (1948) and special covenants provided for the rights of children, women and
disabled, crimes continue unhindered and unabated. The soul-searching question is... 'Has humanity
been relinquished?'
In India, various mechanisms such as the National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights
Commissions, and Women's Commissions have been constituted at the Centre and in the states, for
upholding human rights causes. Legislative safeguards i.e. The Constitution of India, which is supreme a
lex (the law of the land) and multifarious laws such as The Human Rights Act, 1997 are in existence but
in vain. Human rights violations are the order of the day and the above 'law- enforcement' arsenals fall
short of implementation. Rights are merely enumerated on paper and hence remain a dead letter.
Poverty as a causative:
Poverty is a ruthless task master; it exacts an exorbitant price in terms of denial of basic human rights
i.e. food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare etc which in turn constitute basic necessities of life. An
analysis of constitutional and other safeguards becomes pertinent to gauge the efficacy of the law in
relation to the millions who have no other recourse but the arsenal of justice. Article 21 is the Magna
Carta of the Constitution of India. It reads as follows- No person shall be deprived of his life or personal
liberty except according to procedure established by law.
It is noteworthy to mention that the fundamental right to life and personal liberty is inherent and is not
conferred upon us by the Constitution. These are primary personal rights without which civil and
political rights are rendered meaningless.
The Court has held that 'the right to life includes the right to live with human dignity and all that goes
with it, namely the bare necessities of life such as adequate nutrition clothing and shelter1 inter alia.
In Bandhua Mukti Morcha, where the question of bondage and rehabilitation of some laborers was
involved, Bhagwati, J held that the fundamental right to live with human dignity is congruous with the
right to life and derives its life breath from the Directive Principles of State Policy, and particularly
clauses (e) and (f) of Articles 39,41,42.
Again, in the Olga Tellis case the court held that the ' Right to livelihood is included in the right to life' as
" no person can live without the means of living".
However these rights has no meaning to those who are living below the poverty line (31% of the Indian
population lives below the poverty line). The noble ideals of Social, Economic and Political justice as
embodied in the Preamble and other parts of the Constitution remain an unrealized dream for millions
of our fellow citizens.
The fact remains that India has the largest population in the world that goes to bed without any food,
the largest population who has no clothes to wear and the largest number of beggars.
India is not shining on 750 million of its people who have no basic toilet facilities; on 510 million humans
with no access to essential drugs; on 300 million illiterate adults with no schooling; on its 60 million
destitute and widows without a roof; on nearly seven million suffering from AIDS and on the largest
number of children suffering from malnutrition. Ironically 50 million tones of food grains lie idle in the
FCI go downs, only to be nibbled at by rodents. The States have not successfully accomplished the
implementation of mid-day meal schemes directive given by the Supreme Court in this matter. Death is
hence comes as a salvation for these poor and helpless people who have absolutely no recourse. This is
just a minuscule impact of poverty.
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