New human rights challenges emerging amid rapid tech, environmental changes: Kovind

Rapid technological and environmental changes have posed new human rights challenges, particularly for workers in the informal sector and those facing climate-induced displacement, former President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday.

“Economic progress must always walk hand in hand with human dignity… Climate change is no longer only an environmental concern and it is becoming a human rights imperative,’ Kovind said.

Addressing the 32^nd Foundation Day of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Conference on Human Rights of Prison Inmates, the former President said India’s progress must be measured not only in economic terms but in how it upholds the dignity and well-being of its most vulnerable citizens.

India has built a strong constitutional and institutional framework for protecting human rights, but true progress depends on compassion and inclusion.

“Human rights are not merely statutory entitlements but expressions of a deeper moral and civilisational consciousness,” he noted, adding that India’s cultural heritage, rooted in the ideals of dharma, karuna (compassion) and nyaya (justice), continues to guide its approach to human dignity.

Praising the NHRC for giving “voice to the voiceless” over the last three decades, Kovind said its efforts in custodial justice, bonded labour, trafficking, and the rights of women, children, and persons with disabilities have left “a lasting imprint on the nation’s conscience.”

He also lauded the NHRC’s work over the past 32 years and urged all stakeholders to reaffirm the commitment to building a more humane, just and inclusive India in an ever-evolving dynamics of human rights.

Commending NHRC for organising the National Conference on the ‘Human Rights of Prison Inmates’, Kovind urged all stakeholders and particularly the prison officers to ensure jails become spaces of reform, rehabilitation, hope and not just confinement

NHRC Chairperson Justice Ramasubramanian said that the Commission has handled about 24 lakh cases since its establishment in 1993 and awarded Rs 263 crore in monetary relief across 8,924 cases. Last year, it registered 73,849 complaints, took suo motu cognisance of 108 matters, and disposed of 38,063 cases, he said.

“The Commission has been striving to live up to the standards set by our illustrious predecessors and to fulfil the legitimate expectations of the victims of human rights violations,” he said, highlighting NHRC’s studies on Dalit rights, tribal welfare, mental health, and custodial deaths.