Kolkata, June 6 (IANS) Trinamool Congress’ Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev on Friday wrote a letter to Digvijaya Singh, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Women and Child Development seeking comprehensive reforms of the National Commission for Women (NCW).

Her letter comes just a day after NCW asked the West Bengal Police to take strong and immediate action against party Trinamool Congress strongman and the party’s former district president in Birbhum Anubrata Mondal over the viral audio clip where he was heard threatening a police officer from the same district to rape the latter’s mother and wife.

In her letter to Singh, which she has written in her capacity as a member of the said Parliamentary Committee, Dev claimed that of late, the NCW had lost all its credibility because of their “blatantly partisan actions” because of the commission’s “cherry-picking of incidents of crime against women only in states where BJP is not in power”.

In the letter, she also pointed out how NCW ignored protests of champion wrestlers against molestation and sexual harassment of women wrestlers and recent incidents of rape in Assam, Bihar and Uttarakhand.

In the letter, she pointed out how the visit to meet Manipur rape victims was delayed by four months. According to her, reforms in NCW were necessary to bring an end to misuse of powers.

“It is fair to say that NCW is captive to the government for various reasons. Currently, it is financially dependent on the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD), which controls budget proposals, staff appointments, and secretariat operations” Dev’s letter to Singh read.

According to her, to safeguard the rights of women, NCW should be empowered and made accountable for all its activities.

“In view of the above, I humbly urge you to consider taking concrete steps to review and reform the NCW thereby enabling it to function effectively as a true guardian of women’s rights in India rather than a political tool,” the letter read.

–IANS

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