- The day was first celebrated in Sikkim and was a significant milestone towards women-based initiatives within the state
- On the day, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang inaugurated the 'Nari Adalat' at Rongpo
- The 'Nari Adalat' is an innovative, woman-headed community court of justice for empowering women to play an active role in conflict resolution
On the first Amma Samman Diwas, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang inaugurated the 'Nari Adalat' at Rongpo — a pioneering, women-headed community court with a vision to offer accessible, informal, and compassionate conflict resolution for rural and semi-urban communities.
The primary aim of the initiative is to enable women to become proactive in resolving disputes and dealing with social problems that affect them directly, providing a friendly and non-threatening environment where disputes can be resolved locally without the formal judicial system's complexities, expense, and time.
Functioning through dialogue, mediation, and consensus-building, 'Nari Adalat' seeks to solve petty issues like family conflicts, less serious cases of domestic violence, marriage problems, and village-level conflict, with culturally sensitive and quicker solutions. By putting the voices of women at the center of decision-making, the forum not only gives victims — particularly women — a safer platform to appeal but also empowers local women leaders through leadership and mediation skills.
This model of grassroots justice, drawing on rural India's community-based conflict resolution practices, is anticipated to relieve formal courts of the workload, strengthen local relationships, and become a model for other states to adopt traditional mediation along with contemporary governance as a way to cement Sikkim's determination towards women-centered and inclusive development.
