J&K government has taken a significant decision towards the empowerment of women by approving the constitution of “Jammu and Kashmir Commission for Women” entrusted with the powers to investigate and examine all matters related to safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other laws, review existing provisions of the Constitution and take suo-moto notice of various issues related to women’s rights.
Earlier also the state government has taken pivotal steps to ensure the participation of women in every field whether it is about granting reservation to women under the non gazzeted posts in Police or the initiatives taken under ‘Mission Youth’ or skill developmenal schemes .
The Commission will have five members who will be nominated by the Government with at least 10 years of experience in the field of women welfare, administration, economic development, health, education or social welfare.
It is mandatory that one member of the Commission will be from Scheduled castes or Scheduled Tribes while the Member Secretary shall be a member of Civil Service of the Union or an All India Service holding rank of Special Secretary to Government or an expert in the field of management, organizational structure of sociological movement.
The Commission has been authorised to investigate and examine all matters related to safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other relevant laws . It will also recommended steps for effective implementation of those safeguards for improving the condition of women in the society.
The Commission will review existing provisions of the Constitution and other laws affecting women and recommend amendments for remedial legislative measures to meet any loopholes or inadequacies in the legislation,” the officials said.
They further said that the Commission will take up the cases of violation of provisions of the Constitution and other laws related to women with related authorities.
The Commission has been empowered to look into complaints and take suo-moto notice of matters related to deprivation of women’s rights, non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to women and achieve object of equality and development and 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.
The commission will pay a special focus on the issues related to education and check whether the women of the UT are getting equal representation in every sphere. It will work towards supporting and guiding women .
It has also been mentioned by the officials that the commission needs to submit a periodical report to the government providing an account of the work done by the commission towards the welfare of women.
Annual and Audit report of the commission will be reviewed by the Lt governor itself.
The formal order for constitution of the Commission was issued by Secretary Social Welfare Department Sheetal Nanda by order of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
