The National Human Rights Commission on Friday said the Andhra Pradesh government had agreed to increase the ex gratia payable to families of farmers who committed suicide, from the existing Rs.1 lakh to Rs.5 lakh.
NHRC chairman Justice (Retd.) K.G. Balakrishnan said on Friday, the final day of their camp sitting, that the AP Revenue Secretary has agreed to increase the compensation. There has not been any commitment from the Telangana government so far.
The Commission has also made recommendations to both the governments to try and waive the loans in appropriate cases, and expand the network of institutional credit for farmers, in order to discourage private loans.
From its open hearings, the Commission has noted that the police investigation of cases reported by Scheduled Castes is not as quick and fair as it should be. The district magistrates and Labour offices need to be sensitised about their functions and duties under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, and Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulations) Act 1986, a statement released by the Commission said. A large number of petitions pertain to the police high-handedness, which includes torture, illegal arrest, non-registration of cases, illegal encounter killings, and lock-up deaths. Uttar Pradesh tops in terms of the number of complaints. However, the number of encounter killings reported from UP and Maharashtra has come down drastically, Mr. Balakrishnan said. The commission has recommended compensation in several cases, which include monetary relief of Rs.7 lakh to the next kin of people who died in custody. In a case of encounter, the commission recommended compensation of Rs.5 lakh.
