Question : COMPREHENSIVE POLICY ON WOMEN

(a) whether the Government propose to bring a comprehensive policy for the empowerment of women;

(b) if so, the time by which it is likely to be brought before the Parliament;

(c) whether the policy would focus on compulsory registration of marriages, restraint on child marriage and suitable improvements in laws relating to divorce and maintenance;

(d) whether most of the recommendations made by the Committee on Status of Women in India would be incorporated; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SUMITRA MAHAJAN)

(a)&(b) Yes, Sir. The Government of India is in the process of finalising a National Policy for the Empowerment of Women.

(c) The Policy aims at formulating and reviewing laws, policies, rules and regulations in order to achieve gender equality.

(d)&(e) The recommendations made in the Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India (`Towards Equality’) and other national and international documents such as National Perspective Plan for Women (1988-2000) and Report of the National Commission of Self-Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector (`Shram Shakti’), Platform for Action adopted in Beijing in 1995, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) have been taken into consideration while drafting the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women.