Climate change becoming human rights imperative: Kovind

NEW DELHI: Former President Ram Nath Kovind Thursday cautioned that climate change is “no longer only an environmental concern but is becoming a human rights imperative”. The consequences of the challenges posed by climate change, manifesting in the form of floods, droughts and heatwaves, are borne largely by those who are least equipped to bear them, he said at a programme to mark the 32nd foundation day of the National Human Rights Commission ( NHRC ).

During the event, which saw a day-long conference on human rights of prison inmates, Kovind also said the true test of a society’s values lies in how it treats those who are most vulnerable, including those who are in custody.

NHRC chairperson Justice V Ramasubramanian said the commission has handled more than 23 lakh cases and about 2,900 cases of suo motu cognisance since its inception in 1993. NHRC has recommended monetary relief of more than Rs 263 crore in about more than 8,000 cases to victims of human rights violations.

While noting that India has built a robust and comprehensive framework for the protection of human rights, Kovind asserted the need to recognise emerging and complex challenges. “We live in an age of unprecedented technological, environmental, and societal transformation. With the change in structure of employment in the modern economy, new forms of human rights concerns are emerging,” he said.

He cited the example of workers in the informal sector, such as drivers, sanitation workers, construction labourers, and countless migrant workers and how too often, they endure unsafe working conditions, irregular incomes, and the absence of social protection. “Their human rights are frequently at risk,” he highlighted while emphasising that “economic progress must always walk hand in hand with human dignity”.