Human Rights, Justice, and the Unfinished Struggle for Dignity in India
Human Rights, Justice, and the Unfinished Struggle for Dignity in India
India’s Constitution enshrines dignity, liberty, and justice as fundamental rights. Yet, the daily reality for millions — Dalits, Adivasis, sanitation workers, women, minorities, and the poor — often stands in stark contrast. Despite laws, policies, and Supreme Court judgments, systemic violence, negligence, and discrimination continue to claim innocent lives.
Over the years, I have seen the same tragic patterns repeat themselves: a sanitation worker dying in a sewer, a pregnant woman denied timely blood transfusion, a young man beaten to death in police custody. These are not “accidents” or “isolated lapses.” They are the predictable outcome of institutional neglect, caste-based hierarchies, and lack of accountability.
Through the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), and by approaching the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), I have consistently tried to challenge this cycle of impunity. Three recent cases highlight both the continuing crisis and the hope for justice.
Case One: Sewer Death in Ahmedabad — Institutional Murder
On 16 November 2023, Rajesh Vegad, a 45-year-old sanitation worker from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, died after inhaling poisonous gas while cleaning a septic tank in a government laboratory campus in Ahmedabad. Despite the availability of jetting machines, he was sent inside the tank. Another worker tried to rescue him but collapsed and died himself.
The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of my complaint based on reports in Navbharat Times.Notices were sent to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Gujarat. Yet, despite repeated reminders, the state government failed to submit a report.
On 9 September 2025, the Commission issued a Show Cause Notice under Section 18 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, demanding why ₹30 lakh compensation (as fixed by the Supreme Court in Dr. Balram Singh vs. Union of India) should not be paid to Vegad’s family.
This case demonstrates three things:
- Hazardous manual cleaning continues, despite a 2013 law banning it.
- State apathy deepens caste-based exploitation, since most sanitation workers are Dalits.
- Justice is delayed — families must wait for years to receive compensation.
Sewer deaths are not accidents. They are institutional murders, born from a caste order that deems some lives disposable.
Case Two: Medical Negligence in Ranchi — The Death of Runi Devi
In August 2017, 22-year-old Runi Devi, pregnant and in urgent need of blood, was admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi. Doctors recommended transfusion, but the hospital staff delayed for over 4.5 hours, shifting responsibility onto her family to procure blood. By the time the transfusion was administered, she had died.
The case, brought by Onkar Vishwakarma of Manavadhikar Jan Nigrani Samiti (associated with PVCHR), went before the NHRC. Expert opinion from AIIMS Delhi confirmed negligence. The Commission concluded:
- Blood transfusion was advised but unjustifiably delayed.
- The hospital failed in its duty of care by not requisitioning blood on time.
- Responsibility lies with hospital authorities, not the victim’s relatives.
On 17 September 2025, NHRC directed the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand to release ₹1,00,000 compensation to Runi Devi’s family within six weeks.
This tragedy reflects India’s healthcare crisis:
- Negligence in emergency care kills as much as disease itself.
- Systemic apathy shifts the burden onto poor families.
- Accountability gaps allow such deaths to go unpunished.
Healthcare is a constitutional right under Article 21, yet for marginalized women like Runi Devi, it remains a distant promise.
Case Three: Custodial Death in Lakhimpur Kheri — A State Crime
On 8 January 2025, Ram Chandra Maurya, 34, died in police custody in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. His family alleged that he was beaten to death by police officers.
The NHRC registered the case on my complaint and directed the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police to submit FIRs, post-mortem reports, arrest memos, and a Magisterial Enquiry under Section 176(1A) CrPC.
Despite reminders, authorities failed to provide complete information. On 19 September 2025, the NHRC issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, directing him to ensure all missing reports are submitted by 27 October 2025.
Custodial deaths are not administrative lapses; they are state crimes. The Supreme Court in D.K. Basu vs. State of West Bengal (1997) ruled that the state must compensate victims’ families. PVCHR demands at least ₹25 lakh compensation for Maurya’s family, along with prosecution of the officers involved.
India records over 1,500 custodial deaths annually (National Campaign Against Torture), yet prosecutions are rare. Without accountability, torture will remain normalized in policing.
A Common Thread: Negligence, Apathy, and Caste
Across these cases — from sewers to hospitals to police stations — the victims share three things:
- Marginalization: Sanitation workers, poor women, and ordinary men in custody — these are not the privileged but the vulnerable.
- Negligence: Whether by sending workers into toxic sewers, delaying life-saving blood, or torturing detainees, institutions failed in their most basic duties.
- Delayed Justice: Compensation, when it comes, is slow. Accountability for officials is rarer still.
These tragedies are symptoms of structural violence in India — where caste, class, and impunity intersect to deny dignity.
The Role of NHRC — A Ray of Hope?
The NHRC remains a crucial institution for accountability. Its directives for compensation — ₹30 lakh in sewer deaths, ₹1 lakh in medical negligence, and anticipated relief in custodial cases — provide families with recognition and relief.
But NHRC’s power is limited. Its recommendations are not binding. State governments often ignore notices, as seen in Gujarat’s failure to respond in the Ahmedabad sewer death case.
Still, by documenting violations, issuing notices to Chief Secretaries, and insisting on compensation, the NHRC helps create a moral record of state failures. Civil society must amplify these findings.
The Way Forward
- Zero Tolerance for Manual Scavenging: Mechanization must be enforced strictly. No human being should ever be forced into a sewer again.
- Accountability in Public Health: Hospitals must be held responsible for negligence. Emergency care should be standardized and monitored.
- End Torture in Custody: Police reforms, accountability, and independent investigations into custodial deaths are urgent.
- Automatic Compensation: Families should not have to fight for years. Compensation must be disbursed automatically, with additional support for children’s education and family rehabilitation.
- Strengthen NHRC: Its recommendations should be binding, with penalties for non-compliance.
Human Rights as the Measure of Democracy
The deaths of Rajesh Vegad, Runi Devi, and Ram Chandra Maurya are not isolated tragedies. They are mirrors held up to India’s democracy. They show us that unless the most marginalized are protected, none of us are truly free.
Compensation provides recognition, but true justice lies in preventing such deaths in the first place. India must choose whether it will remain complicit in structural violence or whether it will uphold the constitutional promise of dignity.
As someone who has spent decades in this struggle, I know the road is long. But every NHRC notice, every compensation order, every protest, and every blog like this is a reminder that humanity can, and must, prevail.
The measure of our democracy is not in the power of the state, but in the dignity of the weakest citizen.
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