At a time when the #MeToo campaign on social media on sexual harassment at the workplace has taken the country by storm, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has five of its top posts lying vacant.
According to the NCW Act, 1990, the apex body for women’s rights must comprise a Chairperson, five Members and a Member-Secretary. After the term of its only Member, Alok Rawat, ended on October 20, the NCW is left with the Chairperson, Rekha Sharma, and the Member-Secretary, Dr. Satbir Bedi. Last month, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi appealed to survivors of sexual harassment at workplace to approach the NCW, which she said will expeditiously dispose of their complaints.
“These vacancies have arisen recently. We are in the process of filling them up by the end of this month,” said an official of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. However, sources said that the NCW has not had a full quorum for the past 5-7 years and the question of posts falling vacant only in the recent past doesn’t arise.
Apart from Mr. Rawat, the NCW had three other members — Sushma Sahu, Rekha Sharma and Laldingliano Sailo. Ms. Sailo was appointed under the Scheduled Tribes category.
While Ms. Sahu’s term ended on August 16, Ms. Sharma was appointed the Chairperson of the Commission on July 30, 2018, leaving her post vacant, and Ms. Sailo’s term expired in early 2017. The fifth post, which is meant for a member of the Scheduled Caste community, had been lying vacant for the past several years.
The Chairperson and the Members are nominated for a period of three years by the Union Government.
Sources say that with senior posts at the NCW unfilled, it will be difficult to address the huge number of complaints it receives annually.
The Commission registered a total 14,591 complaints in 2017. Of these, complaints on the right to live with dignity numbered 5,023, cases of police apathy against women were at 2, 307, those pertaining to dowry harassment and dowry deaths were at 2,200, and instances of violence against women reported were at 1,673. Complaints of sexual harassment, including misconduct at workplace, stood at 570.
