Lalitha Kumarmangalam appointed National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson

On 17th September 2014, Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has appointed BJP national executive member Lalitha Kumaramangalam as the new chief of the National Commission for Women (NCW).

She is the eighth chairperson of NCW.

About Lalitha Kumaramangalam

• Kumaramanglam is an alumnus of St. Stephen's College, Delhi and has an MBA from Madras University.
• She runs NGO called Prakriti.
• She had contested Lok Sabha elections in 2004 & 2009 but lost in both the elections.
• She was born to Mohan Kumaramangalam a communist ideologues, politician and trade union leader and Kalyani Mukherjee.

What is National Commission for Women (NCW)?

The National Commission for Women was set up as a statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.

It was set up  to review the Constitutional and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.

Functions of NCW

• Investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
• It will present report to the Central Government annually and at such other items as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards.
• The NCW constitutes Expert Committees for dealing with such special issues as may be taken up by the Commission from time to time.
• Some important issues taken up by the NCW include sexual harassment at workplace, women in detention, anti-arrack movement, issues concerning prostitution and political and technological empowerment of women in agriculture.
• The Commission has initiated generation of legal awareness among women, thus equipping them with the knowledge of their legal rights and with a capacity to use these rights. It assists women in redressal of their grievances through pre-litigation services.