CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women will soon have a website and mobile application to enable women to easily file complaints and increase accessibility. “As a majority of households have access to smartphones and the internet, it is the need of the hour to create the website and mobile application. It will help the commission to get the complaints faster and act more swiftly,” said AS Kumari, chairperson of the commission. She was speaking at an event organised by women activists in Chennai to discuss the policies and budgets for women.
Kumari added that the States like Kerala have a website for the women’s commission along with the facility to file complaints. Lauding Kerala’s website, she said, “We will have a similar one. We are also planning to receive complaints through WhatsApp as well.” At present, the complaints are sent through post or filed in person, apart from the panel taking up suo motu cases.
Meanwhile, civil society organisations working for women’s welfare said this was a welcome move as the lack of proper information has been plaguing the social welfare department for several years now. Though it has been nearly one and a half months since the new members of the women’s commission took over, their details have still not been updated on the social welfare department or the State government’s website, they said. The government must ensure their details be published along with phone numbers, they added.