Dimapur, April 29: The Planning Commission of India has set up a working group on ‘Empowerment of Women’ for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). The Working Group (WC) will review the existing approach, strategies, and priorities, ongoing policies/programmes and their implementation for the welfare, development and empowerment of women, both within the women specific and women related sectors and suggest rationalization/minimization of the ongoing programmes and effective inter-sectoral convergence.
The WG would also identify neglected areas and groups, gaps, weaknesses and bottlenecks in the implementation and take note of the emerging problems/situations related to welfare, protection, development and empowerment of women in the changing scenario and suggest necessary suggestions.
The WG is headed by Secretary, Union Ministry of Women & Child Labour, Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi as Chairperson and Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Women & Child Labour as Convener, along with 39 members. Out of the 39 members, majority of who are Secretaries of various union ministries, the lone representatives from the North East is Monalisa Changkija, Editor of Nagaland Page.
Other NGO members in the in the Working Group includes President of All India Women’s Conference, New Delhi, Geeta Ramakrishnan of Women’s Struggle Committee, Chennai; Indira Jai Singh of New Delhi; Mamta Jaitley of Jaipur; Jashodhara Das Gupta of Lucknow; Kalyani Menon Sen, coordinator, Jagori of New Delhi; Mahender Singh of Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, Chandigarh; Kalpana Shastri of Samuday Aashiyana of Bihar and Kanchan Mathur of Institute of Developmental Studies, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
According to the Commission, the WG would also review the progress of NCMP related schemes for empowerment; review the recent initiative of gender budgeting and outcome budget for the empowerment of women; review the progress of the implementation of Women’s Component Plan and Gender Budgeting to ensure flow of benefits/funds from other developmental sectors to women and suggest necessary measures to improve its effectiveness.
The Group would also review the implementation of the existing women-specific and women related legislation and mechanisms for their enforcement; review the functioning of the existing institutional arrangements, both at the Central and State levels for implementation of policies and programmes for empowering women; review and assess the involvement of Panchayati Raj Institution/Local Self Government Bodies and NGOs in the implementation of programmes for empowering women and also review the physical and financial achievements in relation to the targets fixed under various programmes for women during the Tenth Plan and project programme-wise requirements, both physical and financial for empowering women during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The Working Group shall submit its report positively on August 2006.
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