The Jharkhand State Women’s Commission deals with various tasks concerned with women and their rights; such as accepting and redressal of complaints from victims and ensuring that the Government’s social welfare, health, education, labour, etc., schemes for women are properly implemented. All this involves constant coordinating with Government departments and officials. However, lack of a clear definition of the commission’s powers and jurisdiction vis-à-vis these often hamper their work and also limit the cases they can take.
This limitation and ways to combat it were the focus of a discussion at HRDC. Titled “Women in Networks: Discussion and Sharing on the Jharkhand State Women’s Commission Act (JSWC)-2005”, the session was chaired by commission member Vasvi Kido with author Mahua Maji, social activist Dayamani Barla, and Sister Gemma of Jharkhand Domestic Workers’ Welfare Trust (JDWWT); and attended by ground-level workers and women representatives of 12 social organisations.
The conclave resolved to press for full implementation of the Act and more powers for the commission by giving the Governor a memorandum of demands and draft amendment to the Act “that reflects our needs and point of view”. A drafting committee comprising Kido, Maji, Dr. Rose Kerketta, Shanti Khalko, Meenakshi Munda, Sr. Gemma, Martina Samad and Anita Gari was constituted. They will meet on June 30 to draft the documents.
Citing specific instances where justice for victimised women was denied or delayed, the delegates highlighted the fact that the Act has not been implemented in its entirety, with just two members and a president at present instead of the statutory five non-government members from various fields, two government members representing the Welfare and Home departments and one member-secretary.
“This has limited the commission’s scope and outreach given the needs and aspirations of the state’s female population. It has also hindered requisite attention to each case as too many cases have to be looked after by just three people,” said Shravani of Samvedna.
“Many women have no idea about who to approach or how to file a complaint with the commission. Many times, the local administration does not react adequately to women’ grievances and this worsens the situation,” added Meenakshi Munda of APIYN.
In response, while Kido agreed with the issue of fewer members, she also pointed out another basic hurdle for the commission. “We have no jurisdiction over land and property matters, so we cannot help women who complain of harassment by male relatives for their dead husbands’ property. Hence, we have to refuse many such genuine cases or refer them to the Jharkhand legal Aid Services Authority for legal counsel. Also our infrastructure – funds, transport, and staff -- too is very limited, so we are unable to act in remote cases such as the recent double murder in Deoghar,” she said. She also pressed for creating better awareness of legal options among women so that they know how to go through the legal processes and get a lawyer in time.
In response to some delegates’ suggestion that the commission’s next chairperson should be a tribal woman, who will identify more with the problems of the state’s women, activist Dayamani Barla stressed that “the women’s commission gets complaints from not just tribal women, but also those from different strata of society. Hence, it is more important the chairperson should understand the issues and social scenario involved and be committed to working for women’s welfare, irrespective of her ethnic origin.”