MP women's commission without chairperson; minister assures appointment soon

Bhopal, Aug 24 (PTI) Amid the pendency of nearly 26,000 cases before the Madhya Pradesh State Women's Commission, the post of its chairperson has been lying vacant for nearly six years.

Talking to PTI, state Women and Child Development Minister Nirmala Bhuria said the matter pertaining to the post was pending before the court, and assured that she will take steps to fill the post soon.

On crimes against women in Madhya Pradesh, the government recently said in the assembly's monsoon session that between January 1, 2024 and June 20 this year, 10,840 cases of rape were registered in the state, while 21,175 women remained missing for more than a month.

The statistics implied that nearly 20 cases of rape and 38 of missing women were being reported every day in the state.

An official, on condition of anonymity, said nearly 26,000 cases were pending before the commission for final decision.

The official claimed a joint bench of the commission's members has not held a meeting since 2020 to hear the complaints of women.

Madhya Pradesh State Women's Commission is a seven-member panel, in which six members are from outside the government and one is a government-appointee.

The post of its chairperson is lying vacant since January 2019.

Sagar's current Lok Sabha member Lata Wankhede was its chairperson from January 1, 2016 to 2019. The post then remained vacant for about a year and on March 16, 2020, the then government led by Kamal Nath appointed Congress leader Shobha Oza as the panel's chief.

However, four days later, on March 20, 2020, the Kamal Nath government collapsed. Later, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan cancelled Oza's appointment as the commission's chairperson.

She subsequently moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the decision. The HC, in its order on May 22, 2020, asked to maintain a status quo in the matter of the post.

Oza later resigned from the post in June 2022, accusing the then BJP government of not allowing her to work and creating obstacles.

Talking to PTI, minister Nirmala Bhuria said, "The post of chairperson of the State Women's Commission has certainly been vacant for a long time and I will take necessary steps to fill it as soon as possible." She also said the matter pertaining to the post was pending in the court, which is an obstacle in this move.

Bhuria acknowleged that due to the post lying vacant, many complaints were pending and decisions were getting delayed.

Talking to PTI from Indore, Oza accused the state BJP government of being insensitive towards women.

"This important post lying vacant for so long shows how insensitive this government is towards women," she charged.

"Madhya Pradesh is among the top five states in terms of crimes against women. Even today, women come to me with complaints and I personally help them in every possible way," she claimed. PTI BNS MAS GK