NIC urges women to be aware of their rights

Kathmandu, November 4

Many women, even from educated families in urban areas, are not aware of the 10 per cent discount they are entitled to on income tax, according to the National Information Commission.

During an interaction on ‘Policies and Services of the Government on Economic Empowerment of Women and Right to Information’ organised by the commission with support from UN Women in Kathmandu today, the commission shared that Income Tax Act 2002 has a provision that offers women 10 per cent discount on their income tax.

However, many women end up paying 100 per cent tax to the government due to lack of information, the commission stated. Similarly, the act also has a provision of granting 20 per cent discount on annual tax to industries that employ more than 100 Nepali citizens with 33 per cent women staff, Dalit or employees with disabilities.

Informing about as many as 29 state facilities meant for women that have been complied in a book published by the NIC, Information Commissioner Yasodha Devi Timilsina said the women were lagging behind due to the lack of awareness about their rights.

She also explained about other women’s rights with regard to industry registration, land registration, entrepreneurship development, financial support for the victims of gender-based violence, human trafficking, witchcraft accusation, domestic violence, support for single women, grants for renewable energy, among others.

She also informed about grants for women empowerment, social security programmes, maternity leave, reservation in government service, women health programme, free abortion facilities, right to paternal property and reproductive rights of women, among others.

“The government has given various rights to women, but many women face challenges in their daily life and in their journey towards economic empowerment for want of information about their rights,” she said.

She added that the NIC was publishing a book ‘Information Relating to Women’s Facilities’ in Maithali, Tamang, Tharu, Dotel and English languages to spread information about women’s rights.

Kiran Kumar Pokharel, information commissioner at NIC, said, “Right to Information is an important tool for investigative and research-oriented journalism, and everyone should utilise this tool to get the desired information.”

Krishna Hari Baskota , chief commissioner at NIC, also urged the public to use their right to informatoin to get any kind of information of public interest. He said out of 1,900 ruling by NIC, 1,800 applicants have received desired information by using their right to information.