Contents covered in this book are as follow:

NHRC: Organization and Functions 29p.
Civil and Political Rights and Safeguarding Criminal Justice System 39p.
Reaching Out 80p.
Right to Health and Mental Health 88p.
Rights to Food & Nutrition 108p.
Right to Education 113p.
Rights of Bonded, Migrant and Child Labour and other Labour related issues 120p.
Rights of Scheduled Castes,/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes/Other Minorities and Issues of Manual Scavenging 142p.
Rights of Women, Children and LGBTQI 155p.
Rights of Elderly Persons 186p.
Right of Persons with Disabilities 196p.
Business, Environment and Human Rights 205p.
Human Rights Education, Training and Awareness 212p.
Human Rights Defenders 218p.
International Cooperation 224p.
Administration and Logistic Support 228p.
Non-Acceptance of NHRC Recommendations by State Governments 236p.
Summary of Principal Recommendations and Observations 238p.

The Annual Report of the Commission not only provides a description about the overall
activities undertaken by it each year but also serves as a principal source of information on the
human rights situation in the country. During the year 2019-20, the Commission focused its
attention on a wide range of activities in accordance with the various functions as prescribed
under Section 12 of the PHRA, 1993. It took suo motu cognizance of media reports as well as
on the basis of complaints about occurrences that hint towards the use of excessive force by police personnel in different parts of the country resulting in loss of many lives; rape and death
in police and judicial custody; violation of human rights of prisoners in jails; illegal detention
and torture; deaths in encounter; deaths due to electrocution; delay in payment of pension to
retired employees; lack of educational facilities and basic amenities like drinking water, toilet,
safe building and infrastructure in schools; children falling ill after consuming mid-day meals
in schools; dubious functioning of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) clinics; sexual assault, rape and
trafficking of children and women; killing of persons on allegations of practicing witchcraft;
suicide by farmers; enticing children for begging; stray dog menace; pesticides in vegetables
and fruits; botched up cataract surgery; separate anganwadis for children of dalits; poor
facilities in Primary Health Centres resulting in death of new born babies; increasing incidents
of missing children; and atrocities against vulnerable sections like the Scheduled Castes (SCs),
Scheduled Tribes (STs), Minorities, Other Backward Classes (OBCs), children, women, persons
with disabilities and the elderly. In all these, apart from making some important interventions
by way of issuing directives to the concerned State Governments and sending its own teams
from the Investigation Division for conducting on the spot inquiries, the Commission also
recommended the payment of monetary relief to the victims whose rights were violated or
their next-of-kin (NoK) along with furnishing of proof of payments.This Annual Report for the year 2019-2020 deals with the issues pertaining to civil and political
rights including deaths in police/judicial custody, illegal detention, high handedness of police,
death in police encounters etc. The Report also focuses on economic and social rights, such
as rights relating to health care including mental health care, right to food, right to education,
rights of vulnerable groups including women, children, persons with disabilities and elderly
persons, rescue, release and rehabilitation of bonded and child labourers.The Commission also explored areas of cooperation and coordination between NHRC and State
Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) for protecting and promoting human rights. In addition,
the NHRC continued to spread human rights literacy among various sections of society including
key stakeholders like the judicial officers, police personnel, government officials, media persons,
representatives of non-governmental and civil society organizations, and university and
college students through its comprehensive training and internship programmes, publications,
seminars, workshops, consultations and other available means.These issues have been detailed out in different chapters of the Annual Report for the year 2019-2020.