After packing off Anupam Kher from the chairmanship of the Censor Board, the UPA government today removed three members of the National Commission for Women, also appointees of the NDA government. It reconstituted the commission with five new members.Sources said orders for the premature termination of services of Nirmala Seetaraman, Unusuiya Uike and Nafisa Hussein were issued by the Ministry for Human Resource Development (HRD) today. Two other members — Sudha Mallaya and Baby Rami Maurya — had recently retired from the commission, headed by Congress leader Girija Vyas.The new members are from the UPA stock, including one from the CPI. Malini Bhattacharya, former MP, is from CPI while the others are Yasmeen Abrar, former Congress legislator from Rajasthan, Sushila Triya, former Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Orissa, Mottamma, CWC member (Bangalore) and Neeva Komwar, vice-president Mahila Congress, from Assam.Girija Vyas, who is in Himachal Pradesh, told The Indian Express that ‘‘it was the prerogative of the HRD ministry to constitute the commission’’. She said she had no role in the removal of members.Seetaraman expressed surprise over the move while sources said it was for the first time that NCW members’ tenure was cut short for political reasons.Next on the UPA’s purge list, sources said, is the National Commission for Minorities. However, that is likely to be done through a new bill.
