The newly appointed State Women’s Commission, which took office two months ago, is now grappling with nearly 50,000 pending cases that have accumulated over the past two years. Chairperson Babita Chauhan revealed that during the two-year gap without a functioning commission, many applications were sent but remained unresolved.
With the commission inviting complaints from women across the state, they recently announced that a total of 191 new complaints have pooled in from Lucknow alone. “So far, we have been able to wade through around 10% of the cases in two months. Each day, we are disposing of a handful of cases, alongside the applications we are getting from victims in the present day,” said Babita Chauhan.
She further revealed that a large majority of the cases are of domestic violence and distress against women. “Many of these cases are having to be discarded altogether because the complainants have changed their numbers or addresses and cannot be reached,” she said. “I am meeting with women every day, from villages and remote parts of the state, who come to seek assistance from the Mahila Aayog,” she said. “The commission members are trying to act on the pending cases as swiftly and thoroughly as possible.”
Committee member Anju Prajapati, who was also a member of the prior committee that existed before 2022, said, “We used to get several women writing to us saying they are considering ending their lives due to the circumstances they are living in. But due to the lack of hands in the committee up until now, a vast majority of the case files remain unopened,” she revealed.
Further, Babita Chauhan said in reference to the recent advisory issued by the commission, “In my two months in this office, I have received so many complaints of harassment in fitness centers and gyms.” Following a review meeting last month, the commissioner decided to issue an advisory for tailor shops, gyms, yoga centres, and parlors to employ female staff, in order to make them safer and more accessible for women.
The UP Women’s Commission’s new advisory has drawn its fair share of criticism, with disagreeing voices arguing that this move is impractical and will infringe on the freedom and liberties of women and underprivileged communities. A delegation of women’s activists in Lucknow met with the chairperson of the commission, submitting a list of demands to amend the advisory.
A statement from the delegation reads, “This is a matter of personal choice for any woman. Imposing any decree is actually an attack on women’s freedom in the name of women’s safety. We appeal to the commission to withdraw this advisory and, if any case of bad touch comes up, then direct strict legal action in that case.”
They held that, should this advisory, which is currently based on personal choice, be turned into a regulation or decree, it will spell trouble for women who will not be able to visit establishments with exclusively male employees even if they want to; as well as for those communities who are generationally in professions like tailoring and cannot afford to hire or train female employees.
The delegation consisted of Madhu Garg and Vandana Rai from AIDWA (All India Democratic Women’s Association), Kanti Mishra and Babita Singh from Indian Women’s Federation, social worker and writer Naish Hasan, and Meena Singh from AIPWA (All India Progressive Women’s Association).
