NWC completes one year

The Nagaland Women Com-mission (NWC) completed one year recently.
Sadly the women in Nagaland are yet to make their presence in the State Legislative Assembly. According to records available, so far from 1964 till 2008, only fourteen women candidates have contested the state elections and in the recent state election, four women contested and this time a woman managed to get the second position, that was the only consolation. Despite the much vaunted status of women in Nagaland, few of them actually feature when the State election comes. The participation of women in any decision making bodies like State Assembly is indeed very poor.
The only good news was in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections, when Mrs. Rano Saiza of UDF won the Nagaland seat. In Nagaland of the 13, 00 507 voters, 664,604 were male and 6,35,903 are female voters.
The NWC came into being through relentless efforts made by certain sisters whose calling was to work for the uplift of Naga women. It is through their passion and initiation that the Nagaland Government decided to constitute a separate Commission for women in the state. The bill was passed on October 28, 2006 and was officially launched by the state Governor K. Shankaranarayanan, on March 28 2007.
Since assuming office, the Commission has been a voice for women and their rights.