with business expansion. The very idea behind establishing a new framework is
the need for an update in the future to respond effectively to newer challenges.
It becomes imperative to establish guiding regulations which are systematic and
more binding to foster agreements and check violations of fundamental rights.
Thus, there is a need to:
r Initiate dialogues with the business sector on better application of the
concordant corporate responsibilities, and on improved documentation
and accountability;
r Conduct studies to simplify the adoption of the guiding principles,
analyze loopholes in the Indian legal framework on BHR, and to infer
how compliance to human rights measures improves ease of doing
business in the country; and,
r Establish regular consultations with stakeholders on how to develop a
national action plan on incorporating the UNGP BHR more holistically.
The implementation of the UNGP BHR in India is important for two main
reasons:
First, it will serve as a responsible government body dedicated to rectifying
business-oriented human rights violations. This even serves to fight future
injustices related to land rights and illegal labor practices that are still prevalent
in the country. Second, it will answer the call for immediate response to the
adverse impact of mining and corporate businesses in ancestral lands that affect
indigenous communities.
There is also a need to start a debate on the recognition of land rights
as human rights. The goal of the BHR framework is to mediate such dialogues
in a more transparent environment. A framework can assist the NHRCI and
complement additional mechanisms to understand the complex nature of
human rights. A scrutiny into land rights and draconian agricultural practices
holds importance in terms of deliverance of justice and upholding law and order.
This is a democratic need, rather than an institutional mandate, in the sense that
India is a labour intensive economy.
Structural reforms such as commissioning a BHR framework will create a
favorable environment for investment and employment (The Times of India,
2017). Information symmetry plays a crucial role in investing such cases with
business activities. However, the governance in States and at the national
level suffer deeply from information asymmetry and incomplete knowledge of
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Upholding Land Rights amidst the Land Rush
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