National Commission for Women

Published on 21 Jan 2025

National Commission for Women (NCW)

The National Commission for Women is a statutory body established in 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 to protect and promote women’s rights in India.

Significance of National Commission for Women

• Review of legislations: The Commission looks into statutes and guidelines meant for women safety and makes recommendations to incorporate improvements.

• Example: The NCW had proposed amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

• Address complaints: The Commission looks into complaints and provides proper legal and mental support to the victim to secure justice.

• Example: The NCW formed a J&K and Ladakh Cell to address women’s complaints in the newly formed Union territory.

• Issue awareness campaigns: The commission has been active in popularising campaigns on women empowerment to bring social transformation.

• Example: The Power Walk campaign organised by NCW in 2020 sought to promote gender equality and build awareness about crimes against girls and women at public spaces. 

• Secure justice to women: The commission has worked towards bringing programmes which could provide better space for women in the legal domain.

• Example: The formation of Mahila Lok Adalat for quick settlement of women centric cases without dragging them to court.

• Measures to empower women: The NCW has also been fast forward in enriching the skills of women so as to make them adapt to the present digital era.

• Example: The NCW has collaborated with Facebook to launch the Digital Literacy Programme to provide training to women on safe use of the internet and social media.

Issues associated with the office of NCW

• Political nature of appointment: Lack of institutional mechanism to make appointments has filled the commission with political appointees who have little concern towards women issues.

• Example: Rekha Sharma NCW chairperson in 2023, was a member of the ruling party in power.

• Lack of constitutional power: The absence of constitutional backing reduces the authority possessed by the office like no summoning power. This has affected disposal rate of cases.

• Example: 75% of the cases received by the NRI cell of NCW between 2019 and 2022 are still pending. (parliamentary panel report)

• Lack of inclusivity: The NCW has been dominated by the elite class and the representation of women from lower castes, tribes and religious minorities are very less.

• Instances of regressive response: The commission has often passed regressive comments against victims, which has questioned the dignity of the body.

• Example: The Commission committed victim shaming during the Mangalore pub case. 

• Example: In 2016, the commission dismissed two women from its office for complaining on sexual harassment at workplace.

• Limited outreach: The commission has only been able to respond to the cases which get media attention. Their reach is low among rural poor women who suffer the most.

• Making irrational judgements: At times, the commission has given opinions which are baseless. This weakens the credibility of the body.

• Example: In response to sexual harassment by a Christian priest, the NCW proposed doing away with confessions without realizing that it is an essential religious practice of the Christians.

Way Forward

• Inclusive non-partisan appointment: The members should have association with women rights activism and should represent diverse social and regional groups.

• Build a strong research team: More information must be fed to the commission on relevant issues so that they have enough knowledge about the issue before making comments.

• Constitutional status: The institution requires more power to proactively tackle the issues faced by women which could be offered by a constitutional mandate.

The National Commission for Women has indeed produced some commendable achievements, but their potential is much larger. The inequality and injustice mended out against women requires the institution to be more responsive and efficient.

Tags:
Polity

Keywords:
Non constitutional bodies National Commission for Women statutory bodies

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Social Justice