People's Democracy

On Justice Verma Committee Report

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on January 24, 2013.

THE CPI(M) Polit Bureau welcomes the report and recommendations of the Justice Verma committee concerning sexual violence against women. The report and recommendations are comprehensive and situate sexual violence against women within a broader framework of socio-economic conditions and issues concerning governance, the law, politics and social attitudes and the reforms required to ensure justice for women. The Polit Bureau appreciates the excellent work put in by the committee which has completed its work before time.

It is incumbent on the government to act without any delay on the recommendations. The CPI(M) demands:

(1) that the concrete recommendations concerning changes in the rape and sexual harassment laws should be placed and passed in the forthcoming session of parliament

(2) that a multi-ministerial committee should be set up with a time-bound mandate of one month to look into the other recommendations concerning different agencies such as on police reform, on bringing armed forces personnel under the purview of the criminal laws and withdrawing protection under AFSPA, changes in the Peoples Representation Act, on khap panchayats, on improvement of conditions in juvenile homes, on specific facilities for disabled women etc.

(3) An action taken report on these recommendations should be presented so that urgent reforms required in the areas mentioned by the Verma committee can be taken forward.