The President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee participated in a function organized by the National Human Rights Commission today (December 10, 2012) on the occasion of Human Rights Day at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi

The President remarked that we have an outstanding Constitution and a plethora of sound laws and policies to uphold different dimensions of human rights. However, such an elaborate legal infrastructure to manage human rights will count for nothing if implementation is lacking in form and spirit. We must therefore focus efforts on translating our laws and Constitutional provisions into a reality for the common man.

He called upon our Government, the judiciary, statutory bodies like the National Commission and civil society to do their utmost for the promotion and protection of human rights. He said Human Rights Day is an occasion for us to reflect on the journey that we, as a nation have travelled so far on the path outlined by the Constitution of India and what we need to do further to make human rights and dignified existence for all our people a reality. We must increase awareness for human rights by including it as a subject in school curricula. A human rights culture should infuse our national consciousness.

He also congratulated the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for its yeoman service, since its inception in 1993, for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.

This release issued at 1600 hrs