The long awaited Nagaland State Commission for Women (NSCW) has been formally launched recently by Governor K. Sankaranarayanan much to the delight of many people. Given the initial struggle that it had to go through, the women commission should not be seen as merely an achievement of the government but more as a victory for those who steadfastly stood firm despite the initial reluctance and even rejection for having such a commission. To recall, initially the State government had turned down the proposal for having a State Commission for Women arguing that the status of women is much better off and does not conform to the general perception of women’s status in India. The present government had in fact made the claim to the National Commission for Women Chairperson (NCW) Dr Girija Vyas that ‘atrocities against women are relatively unknown in the State’. An editorial in this column had then responded by stating that the communiqué to the NCW Chairperson was ‘absurd and misleading’. It had always been the stated position of this newspaper that the argument given about the enviable status of Naga women was itself ill conceived and something that official statistics tended to ignore either intentionally or for want of more in-depth study. As such the formation of the NSCW is also a reaffirmation of this newspaper’s standing on the issue.
That the State leadership had come round to finally acceding to having such a body after much intransigence and prodding will hopefully be a welcome sign of attitudinal change in the mindset of the male-dominated political class and not so much of doing a big favor for women’s liberation movement. If it is about changing mindset it heralds a paradigm shift while if it is only about an act of favour it will amount to nothing but a cosmetic altering of the status-quo. It is hopefully a change of mindset because at the end, to finally have the NSWC is one thing but to be able to bring about policy changes in the wide spectrum of women centric issues will still depend to a large extent on the political and administrative structure manned by men. An enabling environment has to be created for the newly formed commission to work on its stated objective without any hurdles. As the Governor said during the formal launching, the NSWC be allowed to formulate policy and act as a catalyst for social change. Likewise the assurance given by the Chief Minister to extend all possible support to protect the rights and privileges of women in Nagaland is a positive statement.
There are many issues that needs to be addressed and the NSCW will be expected to do a thorough factual study on the real status of women by going to the villages and getting a first hand experience of the situation prevailing. Based on this, a report must be prepared to act as a guiding framework in its work. As suggested by the Expert Member, National Commission for Women, efforts must now be made to adopt a State Policy for Women at the earliest. It is learnt that the Nagaland Draft State Policy for the Empowerment of Women, 2003 has been under consideration for sometime by the state government but has yet to see the light of day. Hopefully, the NSCW will now be in the best position to push the state government to adopt the same in order that policies specific for the well being of women in Nagaland can be taken up under the new Department of Women.
