The National Commission for Women (NCW) will soon send a team to Tamil Nadu to inquire about the derogatory remarks made by state Congress president E V K S Elangovan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa recently, according to sources in the Commission. The sources said NCW "was not satisfied with the reply the Congress leader had given" in response to a notice by the Commission. NCW is also mulling over summoning the Congress leader, sources added.
The Congress leader had allegedly remarked that Modi had visited the state in August not due to any political reasons but due to kalla uravu (illicit affair) between the two leaders. This had kicked up a controversy and Congress president Sonia Gandhi is reported to have sought an explanation from him. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit had also sought an apology from the Congress leader, who is yet to tender the same.
"…it is stated that I have used the term kalla uravu referring to the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, which is totally false and incorrect. While participating in a protest seeking liquor ban in Tamil Nadu on August 14, 2015 at Chennai what I said was there is a kalla uravu between the BJP and AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) meaning that there is a secret understanding and alliance between the parties (sic)," Elangovan stated in a letter to NCW.
Meanwhile, according to NCW authorities, they have summoned Delhi's St Stephen's College principal Valson Thampu in connection with the sexual harassment of a student pursuing a post-doctoral thesis at the college. Business Standard tried to contact Thampu, but he wasn't available for comments.
NCW's Initiatives
NCW chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam told Business Standard the Commission was holding consultations with legal, medical, civil society, government agencies on surrogacy to prepare a report to help the government in framing laws on surrogacy. "At present, there are no laws governing surrogacy in India. Several illegal activities and human rights violations have been taking place since there are no proper laws. As a result, poor surrogate mothers are being exploited, while doctors and middlemen are making good use of the opportunity," she said.
Kumaramangalam said the Commission was holding meetings with civil society and medical fraternity to prepare a report on the condition of women in the country.
