[ Indu Chukhu ]
ITANAGAR, 21 Jun: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has urged Chief Secretary Manish Kumar Gupta to instruct the deputy commissioners throughout the state to conduct quarterly meetingswith all stakeholders, including the police, District Legal Services Authorities, Women & Child Development Department, Social Welfare Department, protection officers, and administrators of one-stop centres to effectively deal with matrimonial disputes.
NCW Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar had on 24 Aprilsent a letter to the chief secretary, informing that the commission has been receiving large numbers of complaints from the state pertaining to matrimonial disputes and violence within the family.
The NCW is mandated under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 to, inter alia, look into complaints and monitor proper implementation of all the legislations made to protect the rights of women.
The NCW chairperson reported that a large number of complaints being received pertain to matrimonial disputes and violence within the family.
The commission noted that, in order to effectively address the issue, “there is a need for a coordinated approach involving various stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, legal professionals, social welfare organizations, and other relevant authorities.”
It stated that it is essential for all relevant stakeholders to “converge and collaborate” to streamline the resolution process for matrimonial disputes and violence within the family, with the view to discuss and identify practical solutions to improve the handling of matrimonial disputes and facilitate inter-departmental cooperation.
Women and Child Development Commissioner Bidol Tayeng has requested all the deputy commissioners to initiate a coordinated approach by involving various stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, legal professionals, social welfare organizations, and other relevant authorities. The stakeholders are yet to receive directives from the department concerned.
Earlier, on 13 May, Tayeng had written a letter to all the deputy commissioners of the state, instructing them to conduct meetings on quarterly basis to improve the handling of matrimonial disputes and facilitate inter-departmental cooperation.
Tayeng had suggested that all the relevant stakeholders may converge and collaborate to streamline the resolution process for matrimonial disputes and violence within the family.
Speaking to this daily, Shi-Yomi Deputy Commissioner Liyi Bagra informed that the district has established a pre-marital counselling committee for providing counselling for healthy marriage and to find out ways to check the growing rate of deadlock in conjugal life.
Shi-Yomi is the first district to have set up such a committee.
“As the district administration is not sure how many couples will actually come for counselling, we have decided to conduct awareness programmes at schools, workplaces, and public spaces,” Bagra said.
The Shi-Yomi district administration will soon prepare standard operating procedures to impart trainings to PMCC members on early resolution of conjugal issues, the DC said.
 Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society (APWWS) president Kani Nada Maling expressed appreciation for the NCW’s move, and noted that experts having ground experience should be seated in the committee, once constituted.
She also suggested compulsory registration of marriages in the state, as the APWWS, along with the State Legal Services Authority and the district administrations concerned has been providing marriage registration certificates to couples since 2016-17. “This should be made compulsory,” she said.
“By compulsory registration of marriage, we can prevent child marriage,” she said, adding, that these days underaged children are voluntarily marrying early.
Maling also suggested having a family counsellor for married couples, and pre-marriage consultations.
