Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Dec 29: The Arunachal Pradesh Women Welfare Society (APWWS) said it hopes that the newly appointed members of the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW) would work in the greater interest of the women of the state.
During a press conference at the press club here on Saturday, APWWS president Dipti Bengia Tadar expressed appreciation for Chief Minister Pema Khandu for appointing new members to the commission, and for appointing Nabam Rebia as the women & child development (WCD) minister.
“We hope that with new commission members, the APSCW will start delivering justice to the helpless and needy women,” Tadar said.
The APWWS had earlier spearheaded the protest against the appointment of Taba Nirmala and Padmashree Jamoh as the commission’s chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively, claiming that they had been appointed in violation of the laid down procedures. The APSCW had remained non-functional for a couple of months following the protest.
“Previously, we were here (the press club) to protest against the anomalies in the commission. The chief minister later assured to look into the matter, and he has kept his word by appointing Nabam Rebia as WCD minister and constituting new members in the APSCW,” Tadar said.
“We must thank our chief minister and the WCD minister for appointing genuine candidates to the APSCW,” she added.
The newly-constituted commission has Radhilu Chai Techi as chairperson and Heyomai Towsik as vice chairperson.
“The appointed members of the commission – they are all genuine applicants; genuine candidates who are interested,” Tadar said.
She informed that heaps of applications meant for the APSCW are lying with the APWWS as the APSCW office had not been functioning.
“We are also grateful to those sisters who understood that the APWWS called for justice and paved the way for constitution of the present commission of women,” Tadar said.
Welcoming the newly-appointed members of the commission, APWWS spokesperson Gumri Ringu said constituting of the new APSCW and appointment of Rebia as WCD minister were a “victory of women power.”
“We are thankful to Chief Minister Pema Khandu for keeping his word, and to WCD Minister Nabam Rebia because he is from a legal background. We are also grateful to all the political parties who stood for the women’s cause and supported our movement,” an elated Ringu said.
