Government to implement “Nari Adalat” under Mission Shakti

News:

• The government has chosen to roll out the “Nari Adalat” component of Mission Shakti gradually, according to information provided to the Rajya Sabha by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
• Two aspirational districts in Jammu and Kashmir, Kupwara and Baramulla, are implementing it, and seven districts in Assam, including Barpeta, Goalpara, South Salmara Mankachar, Udalguri, Darrang, Morigaon, and Kamrup, are covered by it.

About Mission Shakti:

• The Central government is implementing ‘Mission Shakti’ as an umbrella scheme for the safety, security and empowerment of women.
• It seeks to realise the Government’s commitment for ‘women-led development’ by addressing issues affecting women on a life-cycle continuum basis and making them equal partners in nation-building through convergence and citizen-ownership.
• The budget allocation under Mission Shakti for the financial year 2023-24 is around 3 thousand 144 crore rupees.

About Nari Adalats

• At the village level, women-only courts known as Nari Adalats serve as an alternative dispute resolution forum for matters pertaining to property rights, domestic abuse, and challenging the patriarchal system.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development would oversee the program, which falls under Mission Shakti’s Sambal sub-scheme, which aims to improve women’s safety, security, and empowerment.
• In 50 villages in Assam and J&K, it would be introduced as a pilot program before being expanded to the entire nation over the course of the following six months.
• Collaboration betwen: Ministries of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, Women and Child Development, and Common Service Centers run by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• The program is modeled after the Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats, or People’s Courts of Women, which the National Commission for Women (NCW) operated from 2014 to 2015.
• Legal angle:
  • Each village’s Nari Adalat would consist of seven to nine members, or Nyaya Sakhis, or legal friends.
  • Of these, half would be elected gram panchayat members, and the other half would be nominated by the villagers and consist of women of social standing, such as teachers, doctors, and social workers.
  • One of the Nyaya Sakhis will be selected as the head of Nari Adalat, known as the Mukhya Nyaya Sakhi [chief legal friend], usually for a six-month term.
  • Despite having no official legal status, the Nari Adalat’s main goals are fostering understanding of rights and entitlements, grievance redress, and reconciliation.