The new Telangana Women's Commission's newly-appointed members, including chairperson V Sunitha Laxma Reddy, were today inducted into office at an oath-taking ceremony held at the commission's office in Buddha Bhavan, in Secunderabad.
The new team, consisting of Reddy, Revathi Rao, Eshwari Bai, Lakshmi, Padma, Shaheen Afroze and Uma, was appointed after a period of two-and-a-half years of no commission, following continued pressure from various women's organisations and social activists in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, incoming chairperson Sunitha Laxma Reddy, the former Women and Child Welfare Minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh, said that the team would work to resolve all the issues of the women and girls of Telangana, and added that it would work in coordination with the She Teams to usher in an era of "women-friendly policing".
"We will work hard to honour the faith the Telangana government has shown in each of us by choosing us to work for the welfare of the women in the state. We will work towards creating a progressive and safe Telangana. To begin with, we will identify various problem spots in the city, and will tackle women's safety issues in those areas with the help of the women's police cells," Reddy said.
"A dedicated emergency helpline for women, that can be reached by dialling 181, will be soon be made functional so that women can register all sorts of grievances, including issues of domestic violence and workplace harassment, with ease," she added.
IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao also attended the ceremony, and extended his wishes to the new members of the commission.
He urged them to take forward the Telangana government's legacy of working for women, and asked them to deal with any crimes against women with an iron hand.
The move to constitute the new Women's Commission comes soon after the Rachakonda police issued a statement saying that crime against women in the area had gone up by 11% in the last year, and widespread outrage against the recent
gangrape in UP gripped the nation.