Eight more family courts to be set up soon
: The Government of Kerala has notified the setting up of 30 ‘Gram Nyayalayas’ (village courts) that will begin functioning soon, said Shantaram Naik, MP, chairman of the standing committee of Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. He was addressing a press conference after holding discussions with officials here on Saturday.
He said eight more family courts would be set up in the State. The State has 20 family courts in 14 districts now. The Union government is implementing a Centrally sponsored scheme for the development of infrastructure in the subordinate courts. At present, 70 court complexes are proposed to be constructed by the Government of Kerala at an estimated cost of Rs. 262 crore. There are 38 Fast Track courts in the State and all have been made permanent.
Mr. Naik said the committee discussed issues pertaining to the status of women government employees, service conditions, protection against exploitation and incentives. He said the Supreme Court of India had in a judgment, popularly known as Vishakha case, laid down guidelines for all departments in the country to constitute committees for hearing the grievances of women. Women are entitled to avail themselves of 365 days of child care leave which includes leave for education of the child, under the new guidelines, he said.
The committee took stock of the arrangements made by the State government and institutions such as the State Bank of Travancore, Coir Board and Cochin Port Trust.
The Lok Sabha has already passed a Bill on the subject, he said. The parliamentary panel sought the opinion of the State government on compulsory registration of marriages in the light of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2012, under which, Parliament proposes to make registration of marriages compulsory all over India.
Registration of marriages was irrespective of the religion of the partners. A need to this effect was also expressed by the Supreme Court of India in Seema vs Ashwinikumar case. Mr. Naik expressed happiness that the Government of Kerala had made rules to this effect and had made registration of marriages in the State compulsory.
The committee heard the views of Principal Secretary S. Peter; Law Secretary Prem Pradhan; Secretary of Local Self-Government; Registrar; religious representatives from Hindu, Christian and Muslim communities; and a representative of the Kerala High Court Bar Association.
The other members of the parliamentary delegation included Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Jesudas Seelam, Parimal Nathwani, Arjun Ram Meghwal, S. Semmalai, S.D. Shariq, Meena Singh and Vijaya Bahadur Singh.
38 fast track courts in the State made permanent Panel discusses status of women employees
