A Women\'s Commission for Telangana, at last

HYDERABAD: After two and a half years, Telangana state can now boast of fully functional Women's Commission. The state government late on Sunday night announced the appointment of Vakiti Sunitha Lakshma Reddy as chairperson and six members of the statutory body.

Sunitha Lakshma Reddy has earlier served as a minister in the cabinets of Chief Ministers Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and K. Rosaiah.

As per the government order, the commission will have a five-year tenure. The other members of the commission include Shaheena Afroze, Kumra Eshwari Bhai, Kommu Umadevi Yadav, Gaddala Padma, Sudham Lakshmi and Katari Revathi Rao.

’Women's Commission Matters’, an NGO that was in the forefront for the fight for a fully functional women's panel in the state, and its leader Spurthi Kolipaka hailed the decision.

“This is a victory for all those who fought legal battles and challenges for this day. We can finally have a body that can prioritise the safety and issues concerning women in the state, and make policies, accordingly. I believe that those appointed today are experts in their respective fields and will do well for us',” said Spurthi.

This is a surprising move by the state government as it was expected to fill corporation and commission posts after Sankranti.

Kumra Eshwari Bai, 45, a former mandal president of Indravelli, was personally informed about the nomination by minister K.T. Rama Rao. Her husband Kumra Raju is a teacher. Eshwari Bai is district vice president of the Kolam Seva Sangam. 

Eshwari Bai belongs to  Kolam tribal group which is considered as a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG). She is probably the first person in her community to reach this position. She has been associated with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao since the inception of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and actively participated in the statehood agitation.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Eshwari Bai said she joined the TRS just three months after its inception and added that she joined the party being the MPP in the interest of the Telangana agitation.d