The post of the secretary in the Uttarakhand Women Commission is lying vacant. A member of Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Kamini Gupta is handling the position since the former secretary of Uttarakhand Women Commission Raminidri Mandrwal left.
As per information received from the commission, aside from the post of the secretary, those of the director and the vice-chairperson are also lying vacant for more than a year. As per the State Women Commission Act 2005 it is mandatory to have a staff of 17 to 18 members and just eight members are currently working in the commission with the rest lying vacant.
The acting secretary Kamini Gupta had started functioning as the secretary of the commission from July 5 after the former secretary Ramindri Mandrawal had left on May 21. The commission does some important functions like registering and resolving complaints, monitoring cases of crimes perpetrated against the women in the state and also awareness programmes.
Talking to The Pioneer, Kamini Gupta, the acting secretary of Uttarakhand Women Commission, said, “The works are being done as they were done earlier. We conduct the hearing sessions from Monday to Thursday. Cases are getting registered and also getting resolved. We are not allowing the problems to come in the way of the commission’s functioning.”
When asked about the awareness campaigns and other development programmes for the women, Gupta said, “The awareness and development programmes were held by the commission across the State. But, now things have remained stopped in the absence of the secretary.
As soon as the appointment is made the programmes will resume in different districts of the State as earlier.”