The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the 28th Foundation Day celebrations of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) through Video Conferencing, in New Delhi today. Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai, Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, Justice Arun Mishra, Union Home Secretary and Chairman and members of State Human Rights Commissions were amongst others present on the occasion organized at Vigyan Bhawan. The National Human Rights Anthem was played on the occasion and a short documentary film on the National Human Rights Commission was also screened.

        In his address, the Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah said that in 2014, when the new government came to power and after a long time, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi led the country with a majority government, since then the Prime Minister's focus has been on an area which earlier went unnoticed by those advocating Human Rights. He said that crores of poor in the country also have the right to equality and freedom and this can be realized in its true sense only when those crores of poor receive access to basic facilities. The Constitution gives the right to these crores of poor people to have access to basic facilities, but no one had noticed this before the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.

        Shri Amit Shah said that all that which could not happen in the last 60 years in the country, happened in the short span of the last seven years. In these seven years, the Narendra Modi government has provided toilets to 10 crore people, electricity to four crore homes and clean fuel (gas cylinders) to women of 13 crore families and thus protecting their human rights. The Modi government has given houses to two crore people of the country and there is a plan to give houses to five crore more people. The government bears the cost of health up to Rs. five lakh for crores of the poor of the country. Crores of families got bank accounts and now funds from government schemes reaches their accounts directly through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) without involvement of middlemen.

        The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation said that along with this, work to instill a sense of respect in the entire country has also been done by the Narendra Modi government by giving the name Divyang. Today, there is no such facility in the country, whether it is the State Governments or the Central Government, where the concerns of the Divyangs have not been taken care of. Divyang, transgender and many people of the country have felt for the first time that someone cares for them too, and this has awakened a sense of self-pride in many people. He said that one of the biggest problems in the country was the affect of fluoridated water on children’s health. The Narendra Modi government has taken up the task of providing pure drinking water to all such households in five years and pure drinking water is about to reach about two crore households. Shri Amit Shah said that in line with the present approach, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has silently worked for protecting the human rights of crores of people.

        The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation said that in its journey spanning 28 years, the National Human Rights Commission has disposed of more than 20 lakh cases and provided compensation of more than Rs. 205 crore to victims. The Commission has worked to create new awareness and consciousness in all areas related to human rights. Shri Amit Shah said that whether it is custodial death or the rights of sanitation workers, tribals and Dalits, the Human Rights Commission has made a successful effort to be their voice in every field. The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation expressed hope that this journey will continue even further.

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