THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN ACT, 1990

NO. 20 OF 1990

An Act to constitute a National Commission for Women and to provide for matters connected therewith

or incidental thereto. Be it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY

1.         Short title, extent and commencement.~(1 ) This Act may be called the National Commission for Women
Act, 1990.

(2)                       It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

(3)          It shall come into force on such date^? as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

2.        Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--

(a)                       "Commission" means the National Commission for Women constituted under section 3;

(b)          "Member" means a Member of the Commission and includes the Member-Secretary;

(c)           "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act.

CHAPTER II THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN

3.        Constitution of the National Commission for Women.— (1) The Central Government shall constitute³ a
body to be known as the National Commission for Women to exercise the powers conferred on, and to
perform the functions assigned to, it under this Act.

(2)     The Commission shall consist of—

(a)     a Chairperson, committed to the cause of women, to be nominated by the Central Government;

(b)     five Members to be nominated by the Central Government from amongst persons of ability, integrity and standing who have had experience in law or legislation, trade unionism, management of an industry or organisation committed to increasing the employment potential of women, women's voluntary organisa­tions (including women activists), administration, economic development, health, education or social welfare;

Provided that at least one Member each shall be from amongst persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively;

(c) a Member-Secretary to be nominated by the Central Government, who shall be~

(i)   an expert in the field of management, organisational structure or sociological movement, or

(ii)  an officer who is a member of a civil service of the Union or of an all-India service or holds a civil post under trn Union with appropriate experience.

1.                                       The Act received the assent of the President on 30.8.1990.

2.                                       The Act came into torce on 31.11992, vide Notification No-. S.O. 99 (E), dated 31.1.1992.

3.                                       The National Commission for Women was constituted on 31.1.1992, vide Notification No. S.O. 100 (E), dated 31.1.1992.

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4.         Term of office and conditions of service of Chairperson and Members.-(l) The Chairperson and every
Member shall hold office for such period, not exceeding three years, as may be specified by the Central
Government in this behalf.

(2)           The Chairperson or a Member (other than the Member-Secretary who is a member of a civil service of the Union or of an all-India service or holds a civil post under the Union) may, by writing and addressed to the Central Government, resign from the office of Chairperson or, as the case may be, of the Member at any time.

(3)                        The Central Government shall remove a person from the office of Chairperson or a Member referred to in sub­section (2) if that person--

 

(a)    becomes an undischarged insolvent;

(b)    gets convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which in the opinion of the Central - Govern­ment involves moral turpitude;

(c)    becomes of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;

(d)    refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting;

(e)    is, without obtaining leave of absence from the Commission, absent from three consecutive meetings of the Commission; or

(f)              in the opinion of the Central Government has so abused the position of Chairperson or Member as to render that person's continuance in office detrimental to the public interest;

Provided that no person shall be removed under this clause until that person has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter.

(4)                        A vacancy caused under sub-section (2) or otherwise shall be filled by fresh nomination,

(5)           The salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the Chairperson and Members shall be such as may be prescribed.¹

5.         Officers and other employees of the Commission.-(1 ) The Central Government shall provide the Commis­
sion with such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of
the Commission under this Act.

(2) The salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the officers and other employees appointed for the purpose of the Commission shall be such as may be prescribed.

6.                            Salaries and allowances to be paid out of grants.-The salaries and allowances payable to the Chairper­son and Members and the administrative expenses, including salaries, allowances and pensions payable to the officers and other employees referred to in section 5, shall be paid out of the grants referred to in sub­section (1) of section 11.

7.                            Vacancies etc., not to invalidate proceedings of the Commission.--No act or proceeding of the Com­mission shall be questioned or shall be invalid on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the Commission.

8.             Committees of the Commission.- (1) The Commission may appoint such committees as may be neces­sary for dealing with such special issues as may be taken up by the Commission from time to time.

(2) The Commission shall have the power to co-opt as members of any committee appointed under subsection (1 ) such number of persons, who are not Members of the Commission, as it may think fit and the persons so co-opted shall have the right to attend the meetings of the committee and take part in its proceedings but shall not have the right to vote.

1. The National Commission for Women (Salaries and Allowances of Chairperson and Members) Rules, 1992 [GSR. 74 (E). dated 31 1.1992]

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(3)     The persons so co-opted shall be entitled to receive such allowances for attending the meetings of the committee as may be prescribed.¹

9.       Procedure to be regulated by the Commisslon.--(1 ) The Commission or a committee thereof shall meet
as and when necessary and shall meet at such time and place as the Chairperson may think fit.

(2)                       The Commission shall regulate its own procedure and the procedure of the Committees thereof.

(3)                       All orders and decisions of the Commission shall be authenticated by the Member-Secretary or any other officer of the Commission duly authorised by the Member-Secretary in this behalf.

CHAPTER III FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION

10.     Functions of the Commisslon.--(1 ) The Commission shall perform all or any of the following functions,
namely:--

(a)           investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other laws;

(b)           present to the Central Government, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;

(c)           make in such reports recommendations for the effective implementation of those safeguards for improv­ing the conditions of women by the Union or any State;

(d)           review, from time to time, the existing provisions of the Constitution and other laws affecting women and recommend amendments thereto so as to suggest remedial legislative measures to meet any lacunae, inadequacies or shortcomings in such legislations;

(e)           take up the cases of violation of the provisions of the Constitution and of other laws relating to women with the appropriate authorities;

(f)               look into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to:-

(i)   deprivation of women's rights;

(ii) non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to women and also to achieve the objective of equality and development;

(iii) non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships and ensuring welfare and providing relief to women,

and take up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities;

(g)   call for special studies or investigations into specific problems or situations arising out of discrimination
and atrocities against women and identify the constraints so as to recommend strategies for their
removal;

(h) undertake promotional and educational research so as to suggest ways of ensuring due representation of women in all spheres and identify factors responsible for impeding their advancement, such as, lack of access to housing and basic services, inadequate support services and technologies for reducing drudg­ery and occupational health hazards and for increasing their productivity;

(i)   participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development of women;

(j)   evaluate the progress of the development of women under the Union and any State;

(k) inspect or cause to be inspected a jail, remand home, women's institution or other place of custody where women a^re kept as prisoners or otherwise, and take up with the concerned authorities for remedial action, if found necessary;

The National Commission for Women (Allowances Payable to Co-opted Members) Rules, 1992 [G.S.R. 118(E), dated 21.2.1992].

(I)    fund litigation involving issues affecting a large body of women;

(m) make periodical reports to the Government on any matter pertaining to women and in particular various difficulties under which women toil;

(n)   any other matter which may be referred to it by Central Government.

(2)                       The Central Government shall cause all the reports referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) to be laid before each House of Parliament along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the Union and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations.

(3)                       Where any such report or any part thereof relates to any matter with which any State Government is con­cerned, the Commission shall forward a copy of such report or part to such State Government who shall cause it to be laid before the Legislature of the State along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the State and the reasons for the non-accept­ance, if any, of any of such recommendations,

(4)                       The Commission shall, while investigating any matter referred to in clause (a) or sub-clause (i) of clause (0 of sub-section (I), have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and, in particular in respect of the following matters, namely:--

 

(a)            summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and examining him on oath;

(b)