Chairperson, members of Odisha SCW removed

Bhubaneswar: The state government today removed the Chairperson and all the members of Odisha State Commission for Women (SCW) from their posts.

Odisha SCW Chairperson Minati Behera and all members of the commission--Swarnalata Samal, Sujta Digal, Bijaya Barwa and Babita Swain--have been removed from their posts, said the state government in a statement.

Behera had been appointed as the Chairperson of Odisha SCW by the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government led by Naveen Patnaik in 2019.

Similarly, the BJD government had appointed Swarnalata Samal, Sujta Digal, Bijaya Barwa and Babita Swain as the members of the Odisha SCW. 

Behera was the chief of BJD women’s wing prior to her appointment as the Chairperson of Odisha SCW.

Behera had also served as the Chairperson of Odisha State Commission for Persons with Disabilities from 2015 to 2018.