Senior Congress leader Girija Vyas has been appointed chairperson of the National Commission for Women, official sources said.

The Human Resources Department ministry has cleared Vyas's name and an official announcement is expected soon, sources said.

Vyas would succeed Poornima Advani, who was appointed by the National Democratic Alliance and whose term ended on January 24.

Vyas, a former Union minister and the former chief of the Rajasthan unit of the Congress, currently heads the party's media unit. She lost the Lok Sabha election from Udaipur. The NCW chair would now give Vyas the rank of a Cabinet minister.