NGO misusing its identity, warns rights panel

NEW DELHI - India’s apex human rights authority, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Thursday alerted state governments on the misuse of its identity by an NGO with a similar name.

The organisation in question is the National Human Rights Council of India (NHRCI).

“The National Human Rights Commission has asked all concerned state governments to take action against the National Human Rights Council of India (NHRCI) for misusing the name of NHRC. The concerned organisation’s email address also resembles the NHRC’s,” a statement said here.

“It has been observed that some NGOs give false impression to the public that they are working on behalf of the NHRC. Some of them also wrongly claim to be either members of the NHRC or being associated with it,” it added.

The commission said that the NHRC had no branches in states, and it neither registers nor authorises any NGO to carry out work on its behalf.

“Any institution or NGO claiming to be functioning on behalf of the NHRC or having affiliation with it is liable for action against it by the concerned state authorities as per the law,” it added.