The National Commission for Women (NCW) will organise nationwide ‘Jan Sunwai’ hearings in around 500 districts between March 8 and March 14 to address women’s grievances and ensure faster redressal, its chairperson Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar said in New Delhi on Friday.
The initiative is aimed at expanding the commission’s grievance redressal mechanism by taking hearings closer to women across the country and improving access to justice.
The hearings will be conducted jointly by the NCW and state women’s commissions. Rahatkar said the effort is intended to strengthen outreach and ensure justice, safety and equal opportunities for women.
“As part of the campaign, hearings will be held in nearly 500 districts across most states and UTs, where more than 15,000 cases are expected to be taken up, including walk-in cases,” Rahatkar said. Some states may not host the programme due to elections, she added.
The districts have been selected based on factors such as the number of complaints received and the need to reach remote and hilly areas where access to grievance redressal mechanisms is limited.
Rahatkar said she will personally attend several hearings during the campaign. The initiative will begin in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on March 9, followed by hearings in Vadodara, Gujarat, on March 10; Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on March 11; Medchal-Malkajgiri, Telangana, on March 12; Deoghar, Jharkhand, on March 13; and Dumka on March 14.
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The hearings will also be organised in multiple districts across states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Members of the NCW as well as chairpersons and members of state women’s commissions will participate in the hearings across districts.
Rahatkar said the plan for the nationwide campaign was finalised following discussions during a meeting of state women’s commissions held in Delhi on January 29 and 30.
She also inaugurated a new conference centre at the NCW headquarters, saying it would provide a platform for dialogue between the commission and society and help spread awareness about initiatives related to women’s empowerment.
“A strong society is one where women feel safe, respected and confident to move forward,” Rahatkar said, adding that the commission will continue working towards this goal.
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