Committee on Empowerment of Women 2026-27 Reconstituted
Why in the news
The Speaker formed the annual parliamentary panel on women’s empowerment for 2026-27 and named a senior MP to lead it.
Key facts
- Chair: senior Lok Sabha MP Daggubati Purandeswari.
- Type: Joint Parliamentary Committee of 28 members, so both Houses sit on it.
- First formed: 29 April 1997, in the 11th Lok Sabha.
- Term: not above one year, so it is reconstituted every year.
- Working spirit: members rise above party lines and act as a cross-party unit.
| Source of members | Number | Nominated by |
|---|---|---|
| Lok Sabha | 18 | Speaker |
| Rajya Sabha | 10 | Chairman of Rajya Sabha |
| Total | 28 | – |
Functions
- Review reports of the National Commission for Women and suggest action.
- Assess gender equality in public and private life, and in central laws and Union Territory administration.
- Track women’s presence in legislatures, public services and education.
- Appraise welfare programmes for women and follow up on earlier recommendations.
- Take up special matters sent by the Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
Background
- Parliamentary committees are MP panels doing detailed legislative, financial or thematic work that the full House cannot manage. Types: standing (including financial committees such as PAC, Estimates and Public Undertakings, and department-related committees) and ad hoc (select or joint committees).
- JPC draws members from both Houses, typically in a 2:1 ratio favouring the Lok Sabha.
- Rajya Sabha Chairman is the Vice-President under Article 64.
- NCW is a statutory body set up in 1992 under the NCW Act, 1990, and sends annual and special reports to Parliament; the committee examines them.
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 (128th Amendment) gives 33% seats to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, to take effect after delimitation, which depends on the next Census.
- Constitutional provisions: Article 14, 15(1), 15(3), 16, 39(a) and (d), 42 and 51A(e).
- Schemes: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Mission Shakti, PM Matru Vandana Yojana, One Stop Centres and SHE-Box.
Why the timing matters
- Women’s reservation awaits post-delimitation rollout.
- PLFS 2025 shows urban female labour participation at 22.2% and urban women’s youth unemployment at 18.9%.
- Worries persist on safety, health, education and legal access, and Crime in India 2024 shows rises in some categories of crimes against women.
Exam angle
- Facts: 28 members (18 + 10), tenure one year, first formed April 1997.
- NCW works under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- Do not mix it up with department-related standing committees.