In a first, Punjab to set up 15-member human rights core groups in every dist

Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) member Jitender Singh Shunty on Saturday said Punjab would become the first state in the country to constitute 15-member core groups in every district to strengthen human rights protection at the grassroots level.

Addressing an open public hearing camp at the District Administrative Complex in Patiala, Shunty said the Commission was working to reach citizens at their doorstep and ensure timely justice to victims of rights violations. The proposed core groups, comprising representatives of local social service organisations, will function as district-level branches of the Commission to facilitate swift redress of complaints.

Shunty, a Padma Shri awardee, also launched the Commission’s WhatsApp helpline (9855475547), urging citizens to report human rights violations in writing so that action could be initiated within two days.

During the visit, he convened a meeting with ADC (Urban Development) Navreet Kaur Sekhon, SP (City) Palvinder Singh Cheema, Central Jail Superintendent Gurcharan Singh Dhaliwal and officials from the Municipal Corporation, Health Department, Rural Development and Panchayats Department, PSPCL and other departments. Representatives of Patiala-based NGOs were also present and complaints from residents were heard.

Earlier, Shunty conducted a surprise inspection of Government Rajindra Hospital, reviewing emergency services and ambulance facilities. He directed officials to strengthen compliance with human rights guidelines and sought suggestions from civil society representatives.

He reiterated that no government or private hospital could detain a patient or withhold a deceased person’s body over unpaid bills. Hospitals, he said, must ensure proper mortuary facilities and ambulance services. Directions were also issued to support the cremation or burial of unidentified or economically weaker persons, provide mortuary boxes in villages, supply safety gear to sanitation workers and ensure insurance cover for them. Police were instructed to provide pilot vehicles for ambulances transporting critical patients when contacted through 112.

Referring to the 1947 massacres, the Bhopal gas tragedy and the 1984 anti-Sikh violence, Shunty said such injustices must not be repeated in an era when institutional mechanisms exist to safeguard human rights.