Activists to help plan panel to focus on gender

NEW DELHI: Women activists, health workers and independent experts will now help the Planning Commission give a new "gender reorientation" to the existing policies on all key sectors.
Having formed 17 consultative groups on all sectors, the Commission set up two more on Tuesday to review the policies on health and family welfare and gender and development.
"The idea is to make our planning process more focussed towards women and child issues. The committee on gender and development will be an overarching body. Draft notes prepared by the other 18 groups will be presented before it. This group will then give its necessary gender input," said Sayeeda Hameed, member Planning Commission.
The Commission has formed 19 consultative groups, of outside experts, former bureaucrats, corporates, multilateral agencies and academics to assist it in mid-term appraisal of the 10th five year plan.
"In the groups on gender and health, we don''t have the Page 3 social activists. We have got people from the grassroot," Hameed added.
IIM-Bangalore professor Gita Sen, Rani Bang, a social worker from Gatchiroli in Maharashtra, Gagan Sethi from Ahmedabad-based organisation Janvikas, Escort Hospital''s Naresh Trehan, Ranjit Roy Choudhury from the National Institute of Immunology, Gautam Kumra from Mckinsey and former health secretary Rajiv Mishra are among the 24 members appointed to the consultative committee on health and family welfare.
"The job of the committee is to find out where and what we are at, and how things can improve," Hameed said.
Centre of Women''s Development Studies, Vina Mazumdar, Nalini Naik from SEWA, Kerala, Devaki Jain from Bangalore-based organisation Tharangavana, Nazifa Alavi from Srinagar''s Markaz-e-Khawateen and Yasodhara Bagchi, chairperson of West Bengal National Commission of Women are part of the 17-member consultative group on gender and development. Sayeeda Hameed will be the chairperson of both groups.