United Nations: The 2002 Gujarat riots were an aberration that should never have happened and India has drawn 'important lessons' from them, the country's delegate told a UN committee dealing with discrimination against women. 

Deepa Jain Singh, secretary of the ministry of women and child development, told a UN committee on the elimination of discrimination against women Thursday that subsequent events have shown that the nation, the people of India, have learnt some important lessons from those unfortunate events in Gujarat five years ago.

"There have been important government and civil society efforts in Gujarat, which have effectively contributed to the rehabilitation process, Singh said. The situation of women and children is being specifically addressed and a number of important confidence building measures have been put in place," she added.

Seeking the committee's support for efforts to improve the status of women in India, Singh said, "We know we are on the right track. We also know that sometimes things do not move as fast as we would like them to. We have, however, much to be proud of and you have our assurance that our efforts will continue."

 Responding to some issues raised by the committee, she said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently acknowledged the need for a review of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in Manipur to make it more humane with emphasis on protection of human rights.

The Government is currently examining a report of a committee headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India in this regard," Singh said.

 
India is also making efforts to address cross-border trafficking of women in a humane manner and has asked Unicef to particularly assess the existing processes relating to child victims of trafficking between India and Bangladesh.

This process may be extended to other countries also, Singh said. In India's next five-year plan, special attention will be paid to gender equality and the creation of an even more enabling environment for the social, economic and political empowerment of women with special focus on mainstreaming gender concerns, she said.

A National Disaster Management Authority, under the chairpersonship of the prime minister, was set up after the killer tsunami struck five coastal states in south India in 2004.

The authority seeks to take appropriate measures for the prevention of further natural disasters, for the mitigation of their effects, and for preparedness and capacity building to deal with them.

Singh said that India felt particularly honoured to provide the UN with its first ever female-formed police unit, which shortly joins a UN mission in Liberia, and would assist the UN in more effectively reaching out to vulnerable sections, especially women and children, in conflict and post-conflict societies.