Ministry Not Consulted: Maneka Rejects TRF’s Women Safety Survey

Gandhi demanded that the organisation explain the methodology which brought the numbers, in the poll.

Women and Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi.

(Photo: Reuters)

Dismissing the poll conducted by Thomson Reuters Foundation which listed India as the most dangerous country in the world for women, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi wrote to the organisation, demanding to know why the Ministry had not been consulted for it, reports Firstpost.

The survey polled respondents, asking which five of the 193 United Nations member states were considered the most dangerous for women and which country was the worst in terms of healthcare, economic resources, cultural practices, sexual violence and other factors.

News18 reported that Gandhi had also requested the organisation to explain the methodology which brought the numbers and who the stakeholders of the report that enlisted the poll were.

Ministry of Women and Child Development Responds

Rejecting the poll, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) put out a public statement saying that the proclamation was based on an opinion poll, rather than any reports or data, ANI reported.

It went on to add:

Ranking is based on a perception poll based on responses to simply 6 questions and has been conducted with 548 respondents, which have been defined by Reuters as ‘experts focused on women’s issues’. However, no info or opinion has been sought from this Ministry.

Ministry of WCD, as reported by <i>ANI</i>

The Ministry’s statement was backed by National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma, who argued that the sample size of the poll was too small and could not stand as a representative of the whole country, the Firstpost report adds.

"The Commission rejects the survey in question. For a nation as big as India, with a population of approximately 1.3 billion, the sample size of the survey is not representative of the country as a whole," she said.

(With inputs from ANI, News18 and Firstpost)