Government plans overhaul of National Commission for Women

On the completion of NDA's one year in power, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi in an interview to All India Radio (AIR) said that the ministry plans to overhaul the National Commission for Women (NCW).  

This is, however, not the first time the ministry has announced plans to revamp the women’s body. In August last year, one of the first steps Gandhi took after assuming office was to seek amendments to the Nation Commission of Women’s Act, 1990 in order to strengthen it. But the move was vetoed by the law ministry, leaving the autonomous body toothless.    

An NCW official said that the commission is just a paper tiger and the amendments are important. “Right now, we just summon people. And if they do not turn up, we have no rights to punish them. We simply have the right to recommend changes, not to direct,” said the official.    

The commission, formed in 1992 after the Parliament passed the NCW Bill, has over the years become a “political parking place”, says women’s activist Ranjana Kumari, who was part of the drafting committee along with women’s rights movement activists Margaret Alva and Vimal Thakur. It has also drawn flak for not being a functionary body. The last chairperson, Mamata Sharma, created a furore after she said that provocative clothing incites violence. Member Alka Lamba also drew flak for letting out the name of the survivor of the Guwahati molestation case to the media.

The posting of the present chairperson, Lalitha Kumaramangalam, too drew criticism as she was also the BJP spokesperson. Usually, the posting is given to a remote affiliate, and not a part-member. The appointment, made by the PMO, was made available to Gandhi when she was about to make several announcements on completing six months in office. “Right when she was about to make announcements, a file was made available to her which carried Kumaramangalam’s appointment. The minister had no inkling of this,” said a source in the ministry. Currently, Laldingliani Sailo is the sole member; the rest have finished their terms.    

Some of the changes Gandhi had proposed, seeking to empower the autonomous body, were to give the NCW punitive powers by vesting with it the powers of a civil court. This would have enabled it to conduct judicial proceedings, and the power to summon and fine an offending party with Rs 5,000 and further jail time. The amendments also sought to give NCW the power to issue warrants and call for documents pertaining to any given investigation. Gandhi had sent a note to the Cabinet requesting that the NCW be vested with the same powers as the Nation Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The ministry said that the move will open a Pandora’s box, and opposed it on two grounds -- first, it questioned why the NCW needed two separate selection panels for the post of the chairperson, and for its members. The law ministry also raised questions on vesting the NCW with punitive powers; it cited that the powers to arrest and penalise should remain with the police and the judiciary.  

These powers are needed to ensure that the NCW is not simply a talking body, says former member Nirmala Savant, who had also headed the commission in Maharashtra earlier. Sawant had headed the committee which came up with the list of amendments. “I had earlier welcomed Gandhi’s efforts to strengthen the NCW, but had reservations on the suggestion to appoint a judge. I think it is more important to have someone who is sensitive to women’s issues. A person with some technical background should be a member,” says Savant. “I think they should allow for more members for a larger impact, and greater funds, apart from more powers. There should be some compensation for a survivor who comes to the NCW for help. During my time, we were terribly inadequate to carry out real solutions.”

At Rs 17 crore, the annual budget is a pittance for the commission as it barely covers staff salaries, an NCW official said. “We don’t even have money for publicity. At Rs 2 crore, it is not possible to even execute a small campaign,” said the official. There are almost 100 people employed either on permanent or contractual basis. In 2013, the NCW had heard a total of 19,393 cases, of which there were 1,035 rape cases. In 2014, they heard 14,219 cases. Of these, there were 673 rape cases. In 2015, a total of 7,520 cases, including 1,004 cases of rape, have been heard by the NCW.

Activist lawyer Vrinda Grover says it is about time the NCW is given real powers. “If the child rights commission is given the powers to summon, why not the NCW," she says. "Most importantly, they should pay more attention to the appointment of members. If the member is not a part of the women’s movement, how will they be sensitive to women’s issues.”
Apart from plans to strengthen NCW, Gandhi also said that the crisis centres are in the works and the first one will come up in Raipur next week. “By December, the first round of centres will start functioning,” she said. She said that the centres will have uniform buildings and trained staff, and will tackle any sort of crime committed against women.