Nari Adalat: Composition, Functions & Need

• Context (IE): Ministry of Women and Child Development has extended an invitation to states and UTs to set up Nari Adalats.

About Nari Adalat

• Initially launched in 2023 on a pilot basis in 50 gram panchayats each in Assam and Jammu & Kashmir. The program is now being expanded to other states and UTs.
• These Adalats will be exclusively dedicated to women and girls, as a platform for women to voice their problems and fight for their rights.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development would run the scheme under the Sambal sub-scheme of Mission Shakti.

Composition

• Each Nari Adalat village will have 7 to 11 members called ‘Nyaya Sakhis’:
  • Half of which would be the elected members of the gram panchayat
  • Half will include teachers, doctors and social workers – who would be nominated by the villagers.

Functions

• It will be set up at the village level as an alternative dispute resolution forum for domestic violence, dowry, child custody, property rights and to counter the patriarchal system.
• The scheme focuses on negotiation, mediation, and reconciliation to settle minor disputes.
• The court will address individual cases and raise awareness of government schemes and women’s legal rights and entitlements.
• It will not hold any legal status. It will function as a pressure group.

Need for Nari Adalats

• The traditional forms of justice-dispensing mechanisms have patriarchal biases.
• If women ever dared to raise their voices against the atrocities inflicted on them, they would face criticism and humiliation (victim-shaming).
• Personal accounts of the victims who sought justice through Nari Adalat will encourage others to voice their problems and fight for their rights.

Mission Shakti

• Mission Shakti is a scheme in mission mode aimed at strengthening interventions for women safety, security & empowerment.
• It seeks to realise the Government s commitment for women-led development by addressing issues affecting women on a life-cycle continuum basis and by making them equal partners in nation-building through convergence and citizen-ownership.
• Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes:
  • ‘Sambal’
  • ‘Samarthya’

Objectives of Mission Shakti

Sub-Schemes of Mission Shakti

Sambal

• Sambal is a sub-scheme of Mission Shakti which includes One Stop Centres (OSC), Women Helplines, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and Nari Adalat, thus focuses on women’s safety & security.

Samarthya

• As another component of Mission Shakti, it focuses on women’s empowerment, encompassing initiatives like PM Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Palna, Shakti Sadan & Hub for Empowerment of Women.