Odisha government removes women's commission chief

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has removed Minati Behera from the post of Odisha State Commission for Women (OSCW) chairperson.

Behera, a former president of Biju Janata Dal's women's wing, was appointed as chairperson of the OSCW in September 2022 by the previous BJD government.

The Women and Child Development Department has issued a notification removing Behera from the post on Saturday. The matter, however, came to light on Monday.

According to the notification, the department had earlier issued a show cause notice to Behera for her "unsatisfactory" performance during her tenure.

“After thorough and careful examination of the show cause reply submitted by the OSCW chairperson, it is observed that the reply is inadequate and does not justify the unsatisfactory performance of the Commission,” the department said.

In view of facts and circumstances, the state government ordered the removal of Behera, it said.