Khammam: Rule, but no proxy rule

Khammam: About 90 per cent of women are not aware of the laws enacted for the welfare and protection of them. There are about eight laws that were made specifically for women and another 44 legislations are related to women.

The Acts such as the Immoral Traffic (Prevention), 1956, The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1986, Criminal Amendment Act and sexual harassment of women only for women and the acts like the Indian Penal Code, 1860, The Indian Evidence Act, 1872, National Commission for Women Act, 1990, Mental Health Act, 1987, The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969, and Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 were meant for women.

Most of the women do not have any knowledge about the Acts and the issue was exposed in the two day workshop organised by the government on women Acts. Telangana State Women’s Commission is making efforts to create awareness about these laws to women.

The officials were asked not to allow the spouses as proxies in the day-to-day affairs of the administration pertaining to women ZPTCs, MPTCs, sarpanches, zilla parishad chairperson, corporators and mandal parishad presidents.

Commission chairperson T. Venkataratnam said that the women politicians should learn the administration skills and rule their organisations without the involvement of their relatives and spouses. Reports suggested that about 70 per cent spouses are ruling the villages on behalf of sarpanches.

"It is shame on part of the women and they should inculcate leadership qualities with commitment", Venkataratnam said. For example, about 27 women corporators were elected out of 59 divisions in Khammam Municipal Corporation. This was done because of the women reservations in local bodies. Such mileages should not go waste by delegating powers to their spouses.