Former Minister V Sunitha Laxma Reddy took charge as the Chairman of the State Women’s Commission on Friday along with six other members in the presence of TRS working president and Minister KT Rama Rao. Sunita had served as a Minister for Women and Child Welfare during the Congress regime in undivided Andhra Pradesh. She had joined TRS in 2019.
The Commission was defunct without a head for the past two years, since Tripurana Venkataratnam, the former chairperson, demitted the office in July 2018. Several women activists had earlier complained of the government’s lacklustre attitude towards constituting a body to address the issues of women.
Speaking on the occasion, KTR said that maternal and infant deaths have considerably declined and institutional deliveries rose in the state.
He said that the Telangana government emphasised on the primacy of women's empowerment through various measures, including putting in place 'She Teams' which work to address women's safety issues. Further, KTR asked the Commission to be tough in dealing with crimes against women.
Sunita Laxma Reddy said the Commission would work to promote the welfare, progress and equality of women in the state and stand by them.
The newly-appointed Chairperson said that a dedicated 24x7 helpline number, 181, will be available for women across the state, to report any kind of harassment.
The Telangana government had also recently developed a new website for the Commission, that will allow women to lodge complaints online.
In the wake of the Disha rape case, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had earlier directed the Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to immediately appoint a chairperson after receiving a representation. “It is shocking that the state of Telangana, which recently saw one of the most horrific crimes against women in recent times, does not have a chairperson for the state commission. It is unacceptable that a state women's commission has remained virtually nonfunctional for nearly two years,” National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma had said.