Turning smart phones smarter, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission has made it a potent tool to fight rights violation. The Commission declared its decision to accept complaints on WhatsApp, becoming the first in the country to add a new and more effective dimension to social networking and joke sharing mobile application.

The endeavour was taken by the Commission, comprising its chairperson Justice (retired) Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and members Justice (retired) Ashutosh Mohunta and Avinash Kaur, directing to start receiving complaints on the new platforms like Whatsapp too. 

Now, the complainants can file their complaints on the Commission’s Whatsapp number — 9855475547. 

Already, the rights panel is accepting complaints through e-mail and also through its website since 2003.

“Punjab State Human Rights Commission has always aspired to bring more convince for general public at large. This is another new endeavour for the convenience of general public at large and for speedy receipt of complaints,” said the Commission’s spokesperson.

Spokesperson pointed that Whtsapp has far reaching subscriber base in India and has become a very popular means of communication in masses.

“More recently, even the Central Government and Punjab Government have been promoting transparency and speed communication through new mediums like Whtsapp,” said the spokesperson.

Spokesperson said that the volume of online complaints has recently increased immensely. “Adding a new platform like Whatsapp in mode receipt of complaints will be of great convenience to the public at large,” said the spokesperson.

Since its inception in 1997, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission has received more than 2.57 lakh complaints. Out of this, the total pendency is less than 4,000.