INTRODUCTION

Human Rights are freedoms such as life, liberty, security and other guarantees to which people as
human have rights. They are generally understood as inalienable claims or entitlements against state or
society held equally by all persons simply by virtue of the fact that they are human beings.

Human rights in India is complicated issue in country's at large size, its tremendous diversity, its
status as a developing country and a sovereign, secular, democratic republic. The Constitution of India
provide many Fundamental rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also provide for freedom of
speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the country and
abroad.

In its report on human rights in India during 2010, Human Rights Watch stated India had
"significant human rights problems". They identified lack of accountability for security forces
and impunity for abusive policing including "police brutality, extrajudicial killings, and torture"
as major problems. In 2011, Margaret Sekaggya, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights defenders, expressed concern that she found human rights workers and their
families who "have been killed, tortured, ill-treated, disappeared, threatened, arbitrarily arrested
and detained, falsely charged and under surveillance because of their legitimate work in
upholding human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The Indian Constitution, while not mentioning the word "press", provides for "the right to
freedom of speech and expression" (Article 19(1) a). However this right is subject to restrictions
under subclause (2), whereby this freedom can be restricted for reasons of "sovereignty and
integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order,
preserving decency, preserving morality, in relation to contempt of court, defamation, or
incitement to an offence". Laws such as the Official Secrets Act and Prevention of Terrorism Act
(POTA) have been used to limit press freedom. Under POTA, person could be detained for up to
six months before the police were required to bring charges on allegations for terrorism-related
offenses. POTA was repealed in 2004, but was replaced by amendments to UAPA. The Official
Secrets Act 1923 is abolished after right to information act 2005

Women in Shekhawati face myriad cultural challenges that impede social dvancement,
analysts say. Discriminatory family codes, lack of education, and cultural stigmas are only a few
examples. Heightened media attention given to such inequities has raised pressure on the
government to not just reform the institutional treatment of women, but also raise the level of
dialogue on the larger issue of women's rights in a rapidly modernizing society.

The Indian constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and cast, but the
position of women remains unequal, according to a United Nations report. Women in India have
long been subject to entrenched cultural biases that perpetuate the valuing of sons over
daughters, who are often seen as an economic burden to families that fear high dowries and
wedding costs, experts say.

Sex-selective abortions have occurred at staggering rates in India despite a 1996 ban on
screening for such purposes: researchers say up to six hundred thousand female fetuses are
aborted in India every year, or 2.2 percent of the annual birth rate. This has tipped the gender
ratio so dramatically that in 2011, there were 914 girls for every one thousand boys among
children up to six years old—the most imbalanced gender ratio since India's independence in
1947.

Child Rights in India: An Introduction

India is a party to the UN declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959. Accordingly, it
adopted as a National Policy on Children in 1974. The policy reaffirmed the constitutional
provisions for adequate services to children, both before and after birth and through the period of
growth to ensure their full physical, mental and social development.

Child Rights:

The Rights of the Child defines basic rights of children covering multiple needs and issues.
India endorsed it on December 11, 1992.

Following are a few rights in the immediate purview of Smile Foundation as well as India.

The right to Education: 50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school
Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 50% for boys, 58% for girls.

The right to Expression: Every child has a right to express himself freely in which ever way he
likes. Majority of children however are exploited by their elders and not allowed to express.
The right to Information: Every child has a right to know his basic rights and his position in the
society. High incidence of illiteracy and ignorance among the deprived and underprivileged
children prevents them from having access to information about them and their society.

The right to Nutrition: More than 50% of India's children are malnourished. While one in every
five adolescent boys is malnourished, one in every two girls in India is undernourished.

The right to Health & Care: 58% of India's children below the age of 2 years are not fully
vaccinated. And 24% of these children do not receive any form of vaccination. Over 60% of
children in India are anemic. 95 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their fifth
birthday. 70 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their first birthday.

The right to protection from Abuse: There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex
workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about 3.3 million between 15 and 18 years. They
form 40% of the total population of commercial sex workers in India. 500,000 children are
forced into this trade every year.

The right to protection from Exploitation: 17 million children in India work as per official
estimates. A study found that children were sent to work by compulsion and not by choice,
mostly by parents, but with recruiter playing a crucial role in influencing decision. When
working outside the family, children put in an average of 21 hours of labour per week. Poor and
bonded families often "sell" their children to contractors who promise lucrative jobs in the cities
and the children end up being employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work. Many run away
and find a life on the streets.

The right to protection from Neglect: Every child has a right to lead a well protected and
secure life away from neglect. However, children working under exploitative and inhuman
conditions get neglected badly.

The right to Development: Every child has the right to development that lets the child explore
her/his full potential. Unfavourable living conditions of underprivileged children prevents them
from growing in a free and uninhibited way.

The right to Recreation: Every child has a right to spend some time on recreational pursuits
like sports, entertainment and hobbies to explore and develop. Majority of poor children in India
do not get time to spend on recreational activities.
The right to Name & Nationality: Every child has a right to identify himself with a nation. A
vast majority of underprivileged children in India are treated like commodities and exported to
other countries as labour or prostitutes.

The right to Survival: Of the 12 million girls born in India, 3 million do not see their fifteenth
birthday, and a million of them are unable to survive even their first birthday. Every sixth girl
child's death is due to gender discrimination.