Human rights violations disclosures forms part of annual reports

HR violations may form part of annual reports
Souvik Sanyal, ET Bureau Jun 25, 2011, 05.34am IST
Tags:
Ministry of corporate affairs|
human rights violations
NEW DELHI: Human rights violations by companies may form part of their annual reports as the ministry of corporate affairs is set to introduce norms that will require India Inc to formally recognise and comply with such rights towards all its stakeholders.
A new set of guidelines being worked by the ministry of corporate affairs will require companies to put in writing before the government their respect for human rights and also report on measures that they have taken in support of the cause. A proposal to this effect forms part of the business responsibility guidelines being prepared by the ministry. Human rights are a set of fundamental rights provided to every citizen and cannot be compromised upon.
The broad guidelines on human rights which have been defined by the United Nations and followed by almost all countries, including India, contains various types of rights in the form of civil, political, economic , cultural and social. Human rights violations are common in the unorganised sector even though recent cases have highlighted gross violation of such basic rights by large multi-national corporations. Recent instances of such violations have been reported in cases of Posco and Vedanta in areas of Orissa.