NCW needs to be more 'proactive', not just 'reactive': panel

A high-level committee on status of women has said that the NCW should go beyond reactive interventions and be "proactive" in recommending and influencing policies to benefit the fairer sex.
"The role of the National Commission for Women must go beyond reactive interventions to fulfil the proactive mandate of studying, recommending and influencing policies, laws, programmes and budgets to ensure full benefits to the stakeholders," the committee said in its report to the Women and Child Development Ministry.
It identified violence against women, declining sex ratio and economic disempowerment of women as the three key burning issues which require immediate attention and action by the government.

The 'High-Level Committee on Status of Women' also asked for an institutionalised and transparent process to select members of the body.
"The NCW, as an apex body, is responsible for and answerable to 50 per cent of the Indian population. In keeping with this, the selection and composition of the members must be made through an institutionalised and transparent process," it said.
The committee suggested that the constitutional promise of a right-based approach needs to be promoted for positive outcomes to enhance the status of women and that there is an urgent need to formulate national policy and action plan for ending violence against women impacting the life cycle of female population at every stage of her life.

Institutional mechanisms should be strengthened and well resourced and the WCD Minister should be of Cabinet rank, it said.

"The Parliamentary committee on empowerment of women must examine the gender implications of all proposed legislations and there is also a need for the Committee to meet more often, and its meetings should be open to civil society groups as observers," the report states.
It also emphasised that gender responsive budgeting coupled with gender audits should be taken more seriously to reflect purposive gender planning.
The government had set up the high-level committee on the status of women to undertake comprehensive study to understand the status of women since 1989 as well as to evolve appropriate policy interventions based on a contemporary assessment of women's needs.