National Commission for Women

INTRODUCTION
The National Commission for Women (NCW) is a statutory body for women, set up in
1992, by Government of India, under specific provisions, National Commission for Women
Act, 1990 (Act No. 20 of 1990 of Govt.of India.), of the Indian Constitution a view to
protect, promote and safeguard the interests and rights of women.

The present head of the Commission is mamta sharma.
Functions

The functions of the Commission as enumerated under Section 10 of the National
Commission for Women Act, 1990 are as
follows:

1) Investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under
the Constitution and other laws;

2) Present to the Central Government, annually and at such other times as the Commission
may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;
3) Make in such reports recommendations for the effective implementation of those
safeguards for improving the conditions of women by the Union or any State;

4) Review, from time to time, the existing provisions of the Constitution and other laws
affecting women and recommend amendments thereto so as to suggest remedial legislative
measures to meet any lacunae, inadequacies or shortcomings in such legislations;

5) Take up the cases of violation of the provisions of the Constitution and of other laws
relating to women with the appropriate authorities;

6) Look into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to:

a) Deprivation of womens rights;

b) Non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to women and also to achieve
the objective of equality and development;

c) Non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating
hardships and ensuring welfare and providing relief to women, and take up the issues
arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities;


7) Call for special studies or investigations into specific problems or situations arising out
of discrimination and atrocities against women and identify the constraints so as to
recommend strategies for their removal;

8) Undertake promotional and educational research so as to suggest ways of ensuring due
representation of women in all spheres and identify factors responsible for impeding their
advancement, such as lack of access to housing and basic services,
inadequate support services and technologies for reducing drudgery and occupational
health hazards and for increasing their productivity;

9) Participate and advise on the planning
process of socio-economic development of women;

10) Evaluate the progress of the development of women under the Union and any State;

11) Inspect or cause to be inspected a jail, remand home, womens institution or other place
of custody where women are kept as prisoners or otherwise, and take up with the concerned
authorities for remedial action, if found necessary;

12) Fund litigation involving issues affecting a large body of women;

13) Make periodical reports to the Government on any matter pertaining to women and in
particular various difficulties under which women toil; and

14) Any other matter which may be referred to it by Central Government.

The Central Government shall consult the Commission on all policy matters affecting
women vide Section 16 of the National Commission for Women Act,(1990)


Activities

The Complaints and Investigation Cell is the core unit of the Commission. It processes
complaints received by the Commission orally, in writing or suo moto on the basis of
newspaper reports under Section 10 of the NCW Act.

During the period April, 2003 to March, 2004 the Commission processed 5462 complaints
relating to domestic violence, dowry, torture, rape, sexual harassment at work place etc, in
the following manner:

Specific cases of police apathy were taken up with senior police authorities for
investigations and the progress of the investigation were monitored at periodic intervals;

Family disputes were resolved through counseling ;
For serious cases, Inquiry Committees were set up by the Commission, and their
recommendations monitored for their implementation on a regular basis

The Recommendations of the Inquiry Committees covered disciplinary action against
erring government personnel, payment of compensation, counselling of victims, action
against management of hospitals, etc.

The Commission held public hearings on the following issues during the year under
Report:-

1. Impact of Globalisation, Mechanisation and Liberalizations on women workers in the
informal sector;
2. Women Bamboo Workers in Malyatorr, Kerala;

3. Problems of Share Croppers and rope makers at Patna;

4. Crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Orissa, Tamilnadu and
Jharkhand ;

5. Problems of Muslim Women in Maharashtra and Rajasthan;

6. Problems of Beedi and Cigar Workers at Ahmedabad, Thirunalvela and Sagar;

7. Problems of Construction Workers at Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and Bangalore

In order to create awareness about the evils of child marriage, the Commission organized
Bal Vivah Virodh Abhiyan in collaboration with State Commissions for Women and
NGOs.

The Commission held several State level consultations to evolve an appropriate action plan
for empowerment of women besides undertaking visits to States to evaluate the status of
women in the States.

Activities

The objective of the NCW is to represent the rights of women in India and to provide a
voice for their issues and concerns. They have actively published about and campaigned
regarding several issues with women in India, such as dowry, equal representation for
women in jobs, politics, religion and the exploitation of women for labor. They have also
talked about police abuses against women The commission regularly brings out a monthly
newsletter, "Rashtra Mahila" in Hindi and English.
Positions

Recently, in December 2006 & Jan. 2007, it found itself at the center of a minor
controversy over its insistence that the law not be changed to make adulterous
wives equally prosecutable by their husbands.
But the grounds on which Ms Vyas resists the logic of making this a criminal
offence particularly for women, as often recommended are not as
encouraging. She is averse to holding the adulterous woman equally culpable as
the adulterous man because women, she believes, are never offenders. They are
always the victims.
There is, however, no denying the value of the commissions efforts to guarantee
women security even in less conventional relationships.
The NCW also has demanded that women should not be punished for adultery as
she is "the victim and not an offender" in such cases. They have also advocated
for the amendment of Section 198 of Cr.P.C. to allow women to file
complaints against unfaithful husbands and prosecute them for their
promiscuous behaviour. This was in response to loopholes in the Indian Penal
code that allowed men to file adultery charges against other men who have
engaged in illicit relations but does not allow women to file charges against their
husbands.