`One custodial death a week in W Bengal’

CALCUTTA, DECEMBER 12: In West Bengal, on an average one custodial death occurs every week, according to Justice Mukul Gopal Mukherjee, ch...

CALCUTTA, DECEMBER 12: In West Bengal, on an average one custodial death occurs every week, according to Justice Mukul Gopal Mukherjee, chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC). He was speaking at a function here at the weekend organised to commemorate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The chairman of WBHRC, the first state-level commission set up in the country, said that during the year 1998-99, the commission received 5,098 complaints. This year it recommended 85 cases to the state government and all of them were accepted, Justice Mukherjee said.

He also said that the condition at the state’s jails was abysmal and unhygienic. “There has been a rise in cases of TB among prisoners and there is no proper arrangement for their medical treatment,” deplored Mukherjee.The head of the WBHRC also said that health care system in West Bengal, particularly in villages was also very poor. “There are 113 health centres in villages and they have no doctors,” he rued. Heasked the government to make it mandatory for doctors to serve in villages for the first few years of their career.

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Mukherjee also requested the state government to create a separate fund for paying compensation to those for whom the law courts have directed the state government to do so.

Deputy Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya who also spoke on the occasion said the government was all committed to safeguard human rights in the state. “However, we should also see that protecting human rights does not allow criminals to go scot-free with their misdeeds,” he cautioned.

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