Hyderabad:
The Andhra Pradesh Women's Commission was on Monday revived, about six years after it was disbanded following allegations of impropriety by the then chairperson and some members.
Congress leader Tripurani Venkata Rathnam has been named chairperson of the revived body that will have five other members, according to an order issued by Principal Secretary (Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens) Department Nilam Sawhney.
Paruchuru Jamuna, currently Director (Advocacy) in the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty and Sunitha Krishnan, a well-known social activist, who heads the NGO Prajwala, are the prominent members of the revamped Women's Commission while the other three are Congress workers from different districts.
Another woman member from the Scheduled Tribes category would be appointed at a later date, the Principal Secretary's order said.
The chairperson and members would hold office for a period of five years, the order added.
The Andhra Pradesh Women's Commission was disbanded in July 2007 following heated exchange of words between the then chairperson Mary Ravindranath and another member Padmaja Reddy.
The then Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had removed them from the posts and since then the Commission had remained defunct despite repeated pleas by women's organisations and political parties to reconstitute it.
Now that the Congress high command decided to distribute nominated posts to its members ahead of the elections in the state, the Women's Commission has been revived.