While once again reminding the Goa Government that Police personnel were human beings and are to be treated as such, the Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) comprising of Retired District Judge A.D.Salkar and Mr. J.A.Keny today directed that tea with snacks be provided between 3 to 4 pm to all police staff posted on duty during the session of the Goa Legislative Assembly. The GHRC has further directed that the police personnel be also served dinner on days when the session of Assembly extends beyond 8 pm.
Declining to accept the justification of the Director General of Police that tea was never provided to the police personnel in the past, the GHRC in its order today has expressed the hope that the authorities would take this issue seriously and provide basic amenities to the police personnel on Assembly duty as denial of such amenities is bound to affect the basic human rights of the police personnel.
In a complaint to the GHRC last week it was pointed out that dinner and evening tea was not being served to the police personnel despite the Chief Secretary R.K Srivastava having on 12th April this year given a written undertaking to the GHRC that all Police personnel deployed on duty during the sessions of the Legislative Assembly will hence forth always be provided food packets, water bottles and mobile toilet facilities and that funds have been made available for this expense.
The undertaking by the Chief Secretary came after the GHRC in its report on 26th November last year asked the Goa Government to provide food and toilet facilities to the police personnel posted on duty during the sessions of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
In its report on the GHRC had observed that police personnel are human beings and are entitled to be so treated. The GHRC in its report had also further observed that not providing meals, drinking water and toilet facilities to the police personnel posted for long hours during the Assembly Sessions is a clear infringement of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and also amounts to violation of their basic Human rights.
In the complaint to the GHRC on July 27th last year it had been stated that it was very disturbing that inhuman treatment was being meted out to the police personnel posted on duty during the Sessions of the Goa Legislative assembly by not providing them food and toilet facilities.
Alleging that the treatment being meted out was a serious and gross violation of the Human rights of the police staff, in the complaint it was sought that the government be directed to explain this high-handed conduct which amounted to a clear deprivation of Human Rights of the police personnel.
