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Incapable NCW

THE CENTRAL Information Commission ( CIC) has found that the National Commission for Women ( NCW) is “ incapable of discharging its duties effectively” and has given the Centre one month’s time to set the body in order.

The CIC, which ensures smooth execution of the Right to Information ( RTI) Act 2005, passed these orders on Saturday while hearing an RTI appeal on the NCW’s role in dealing with complaints about the missing girls of Nithari. These complaints were brought to its notice well before the carnage came to light in December 2006, when the remains of the victims were found in a drain.

RTI applications filed by Commodore Lokesh Batra of Noida from January 2007 helped find that all the complaints that were filed about the missing girls with the NCW, and many subsequent status reports that were filed by the Uttar Pradesh police, never even reached top commission officials. So, a crucial chance of detecting the killings earlier was lost.

The CIC chief, Wajahat Habibullah, has asked the women and child development ministry to iron out such shortcomings of the NCW and put in place a functional system for addressing complaints.

Meanwhile, Batra is livid with the NCW. “ If the commission cannot address the complaints about missing girls properly, then it can’t do anything,” he said, adding “ The NCW also refused to divulge the attendance records of its senior officials during the period when these complaints were lodged.” By its own admission, the NCW is facing a staff crunch, particularly in the complaints and investigation cell, which resulted in the files never being submitted to the commission’s top brass.

The NCW’s chief public information officer, Yogesh Mehta, in his replies to Batra’s RTI applications said, “ The number of files maintained in the case led to more confusion. One file was handled by counsellor Anjali and coordinator A. K. Narula. Another file was handled by someone else. Subsequently, this was given to a third counsellor, Chander Prakash. There was no system of proper handing or taking over of the files.” Taking note of the NCW’s sluggish attitude and its subsequent failure to provide information to Batra’s RTI queries, the CIC has now asked the NCW’s information officer to explain why it should not slap a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the body for its slack attitude.

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