NCW chief Vijaya Rahatkar said the women's panel receives around 1.5 lakh complaints annually, led by domestic violence. The commission is expanding access through multiple complaint channels and nationwide outreach hearings.Domestic violence makes for the majority of complaints to the NCW.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) receives around 1.5 lakh complaints every year, with domestic violence accounting for the highest number of cases under its mandate, Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar told news agency Press Trust of India.Women can register complaints through the commission's online portal, Management Information System, email, its 24x7 helpline or by visiting the NCW in person, Rahatkar said.“We receive around 1.5 lakh complaints annually. If we look at the cases falling under our mandate, domestic violence accounts for the highest number of complaints,” she told PTI.Referring to the commission's helpline number 14490 and its website, Rahatkar said, “No woman should feel that she could not approach the NCW simply because she did not know how to file a complaint.” She also highlighted the commission's outreach initiative, ‘Rashtriya Mahila Aayog Aapke Dwar’, under which public hearings are held in different states to reach women who may find it difficult to approach the NCW. “We decided that if these women cannot come to us, we will go to them,” she said.Rahatkar said the commission had conducted more than 200 in-person public hearings in villages and other locations across the country in the 1.5 years since she took charge as NCW Chairperson. “We have met a large number of women and tried to resolve their problems,” she said, adding that the commission also organises programmes to create awareness about women's legal rights and build their confidence.She said women should see the NCW as their “maayka”, or maternal home. “I have always told women and daughters across the country that the National Commission for Women should feel like their maayka — their maternal home.

There should be no fear or hesitation in approaching the commission,” she said.“When a woman faces a problem, whom does she approach first? She goes to her mother.

Similarly, the commission should be like a maternal home for women. They can approach us without fear or hesitation,” Rahatkar added, reiterating that the NCW aims to make its complaint mechanisms accessible through several channels and outreach hearings across the country.- Ends