Overview

• Former president Ram Nath Kovind cautioned that rapid technological change and climate impacts are creating new vulnerabilities for informal workers and people displaced by disasters.
• He urged dignity-centered development, pressed for mental health to be treated as a fundamental right and endorsed NHRC advisories on community-based care.
• Kovind condemned custodial abuse and called for prisons to become gender-sensitive, child-friendly institutions focused on reform and rehabilitation.
• NHRC chair Justice V Ramasubramanian reported about 24 lakh cases handled since 1993 and Rs 263 crore awarded in relief, with 73,849 complaints registered, 108 suo motu matters and 38,063 disposals last year.
• Secretary General Bharat Lal highlighted the HRCNet portal for filing and tracking complaints in 22 languages, cited efforts on hazardous work and capacity-building, and noted India’s unopposed UN Human Rights Council re-election for 2026–28.