JAIPUR: Rehana Rayaz Chisti took over as the chairperson of the Rajasthan Women Commission on Friday, a post which had been lying vacant since the Congress formed the government three years back. Chisti became a Congress worker at the age of 25 years and four years later got responsibilities with Seva Dal's Churu unit.
She has held various posts including president of Rajasthan Mahila Congress. Now at 61-year-old, Chisti in conversation with TOI's Yeshika Budhwar spoke about the roadmap for the women commission especially keeping in mind that Rajasthan has been frequently in news for crime against women.
After three years' wait, Rajasthan state women commission is fully operational so what will be the road ahead for
you as the chairperson?
When I became the president of Rajasthan Mahila Congress, I did not know from where to start. So I started visiting all the districts. In this new post, I plan to do the same and have also asked for reports about crime against women from all districts to compare and determine the number of incidents and the nature of crime specific to each district. I also want to focus on counselling as not every issue is possibly criminal in nature but could be due to miscommunication.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Rajasthan has been at the forefront when it comes to crime against women. How do you plan to curb it?
The statistics show an increase but that is also because of ease of lodging FIR. However, having said that, no crime against women will be overlooked and I will ensure that justice as well as swift action is delivered because in such crimes, it is not just the victims who suffer but the entire families. Apart from this I am looking at understanding the psychological as well as societal aspects which are leading to crime against women.
Since women commission has been non-functional for past few years, how will it become accessible to the women again?
We will give our 100% and if the people do not come to us then we will go to them. Members of the commission will be appointed soon and each and every person will be given responsibility so that women in distress can approach us without any hesitancy. We will look at pending complaints too.
How can women in distress contact you?
We will work on having a toll free number on which they can contact us. Gradually it will come together and the commission would like to look at other aspects as well including harassment at workplaces.
Any thoughts on reasons behind crime against women in Rajasthan?
I would like to say that while all of us nurture our daughters and give them life lessons for good future, we also need to make the sons imbibe same lessons especially when it comes to respect for women.
