Police in Bastar will receive training on human rights, and the annual assessment of their work will include their performance on the issue, the Chhattisgarh government told the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday.

After several allegations of “police hostility” towards civil society representatives in Chhattisgarh, the NHRC on Monday asked senior State officials to come up with an action plan to prevent such incidents. On Friday, the government submitted a six-point plan to protect human rights in Bastar, the area that has seen many allegations of police excesses, including on academics and journalists. The NHRC had taken suo motu cognisance of the allegations on November 16, 2016, and said it was “deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in Chhattisgarh over last one year or more.”

Standing instructions

As per the government’s action plan, standing instructions had been issued to the Special Director General of Police and Additional DGP (Naxal operations) to immediately recommend action to the Additional DGP (CID) in cases of gross human rights violations where police action was found to be slow or lacking.

The action plan stated that the DGP would hold training and orientation sessions for police personnel posted in the Bastar Division in order to educate them on human rights issues.

Police officers, whether in the Naxal-affected areas or not, would ensure that human rights violations do not occur as a result of their work.

Officers would have to make sure that the police personnel in their command comply with guidelines. Violations of human rights by the police would lead to consequences for the offenders.

After charges of ‘police hostility’ towards civil society, NHRC had sought

the State’s response

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/Chhattisgarh-police-to-get-training-on-human-rights/article17190532.ece