Lalitha Kumaramangalam appointed as chairperson of National Commission for Women

Lalitha Kumaramangalam was appointed as chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW). She was appointed by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Menaka Gandhi on 17 September 2014. She is the eighth chairperson of NCW.
At the time of appointment, Lalitha Kumaramangalam was the National Spokesperson and Member of National Executive of Bharatiya Janata Party.

About Lalitha Kumaramangalam

• Lalitha runs Prakriti, an NGO and contested Lok Sabha elections in 2004 & 2009 but lost in both the elections.
• She was born to Mohan Kumaramangalam a communist ideologues, politician and trade union leader and Kalyani Mukherjee.
• She is a graduate in economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi and an MBA from Madras University.

About National Commission for Women

The National Commission for Women was set up as a statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. It was set up  to review the Constitutional and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.

Functions of NCW
• Investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
• It will present report to the Central Government annually and at such other items as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards.
• The NCW constitutes Expert Committees for dealing with such special issues as may be taken up by the Commission from time to time.
• Some important issues taken up by the NCW include sexual harassment at workplace, women in detention, anti-arrack movement, issues concerning prostitution and political and technological empowerment of women in agriculture.