The National Commission for Women was set up as statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 ( Act No. 20 of 1990 of Govt.of India ) 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.

In keeping with its mandate, the Commission initiated various steps to improve the status of women and worked for their economic empowerment during the year under report.  The Commission completed its visits to all the States / UTs except Lakshdweep and prepared Gender Profiles to assess the status of women and their empowerment.  It received a large number of complaints and acted suo-moto  in several cases to provide speedy justice.  It took up the issue of child marriage, sponsored legal awareness programmes,  Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats and reviewed laws such as Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, PNDT Act 1994, Indian Penal Code 1860 and the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 to make them more stringent and effective.  It organized workshops / consultations, constituted expert committees on economic empowerment of women, conducted workshops / seminars for gender awareness and took up publicity campaign against female foeticide, violence against women etc. in order to generate awareness in the society against these social evils.