ELECTION 99
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Kerala women's panel on war path

Archna Sachdev in New Delhi

Frustrated with the state government's 'uncooperative attitude', the Kerala State Women's Commission is all set to move the Kerala high court to seek the enforcement of its powers and privileges.

Commission chairperson Sugatha Kumari, who was in New Delhi to attend a two-day workshop organised by the National Commission for Women on 'New models of accessible justice', told UNI that though the Commission was set up in 1996, the government had not yet cared to frame the rules of the act under which it had been constituted.

Stating that the Commission had repeatedly written to the government on this matter, Sugatha Kumari said the latter had been given a three-week notice to reply satisfactorily to its memorandum, failing which the Commission would move the Kerala high court.

The three-week period would end around December 10, after which the Commission would file a petition in the court against the state government, she said.

''We will petition the court to direct the government to enforce the provisions of the act under which the Commission was formed and to extend to it the necessary facilities,'' she said.

If it does move the court, the Kerala State Women's Commission would be the first women's panel in the country to take this unprecedented step to enforce its power.

Leave alone acting on the 20-odd recommendations made by the Commission, the government had not placed any of these before the state legislative assembly, Sugatha Kumari said.

Under law, the government had to place the Commission's reports and recommendations before the legislature within two months.

Despite working with these handicaps, the Commission had dealt with more than 25,000 cases in the 14 districts of the state, mostly relating to family disputes and dowry harassment.

Terming the problem of dowry harassment as quite widespread, Sugatha Kumari said that it was common in all communities.

The Commission had recommended to the government to raise the Rs 500 maintenance allowance to a divorced woman to one-third of her former husband's salary.

However, the government had not followed up on any of these recommendations, she said.

Talking about the lack of facilities, Sugatha Kumari said that the six members of the Commission had to make do with only one car and there were no telephone facilities.

The government had also sought to play down the Commission's powers as in the recent case when some women were allegedly manhandled by the activists of the ruling combine and not allowed to vote in a cooperative bank election. When the Commission took up the case, it was told by the government not to interfere in the work of other departments. ''Is the Commission's writ only to run within the four walls of its office?'' she asked.

Sugatha Kumari said the Commission had written to the government, raising six issues. These included the framing of rules, adequate funding, implementing the Commission's recommendations and providing it with proper facilities.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report