Bhattacharaya told the gathering at a function held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the state government had accepted all the 125 recommendations it had received from the West Bengal Human Rights Commission. He said the state government had initiated strong measures to deal with the violation of human rights as pointed out by the Commission.

He said of all the 327 references the state government received from the National Human Rights Commission, his department had already sent reports on over 221 references. ``Preparation of the remaining reports is in progress,'' he added. The function was attended by Justice V R Krishna Iyer and the state Human Rights Commission's chairman Chittotosh Mukherjee.

Earlier, addressing a function held under the auspices of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, Chief Minister Jyoti Basu said the state government had taken up the recommendations of the state commission very seriously.

Saying that the state took an early initiative to constitute a state Human Rights Commission, Basu said his government had been extending all the cooperation to the panel for implementation of its suggestions and observations. He said the state government had set up a nodal cell in the Home Department to deal with the human rights matters.

He, however, urged the human rights organisations to take note of the political aspect of the concept. For instance, he said, ``We cannot forget that by taking recourse to the Constitution, Emergency was proclaimed in 1997 obliterating all political and human rights.''

Taking cue from West Bengal, Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar has said the Government will take stringent action to end human rights violations by the police. The State Human Rights Commission will soon be appointed, he said.

Inaugurating a seminar on human rights, organised by the Department of Home and Public Relations Department in connection with World Human Rights Day, the Chief Minister said the Government had taken a serious note of the police atrocities reports against ordinary citizens. However, he maintained that such incidents had come down as result of stern measures taken by the government.

The government had already issued a 10-point directive to prevent the violation of human rights to the police while discharging its duty to maintain law and order. Nayanar also listed the achievements of the State in ensuring human rights. The first EMS government introduced land reforms in the State which must be considered as a revolutionary measure which ensured people's right to live. The total literacy campaign was also a significant step in this direction, he said.