The Nitish Kumar government often pats itself for pioneering work in women's empowerment, but is indifferent to an organisation that deals with the same - the Bihar State Women's Commission.

The commission has been lying defunct for almost seven months now. The state government dissolved it on May 17, 2016, saying it will be revamped shortly. It had similarly dissolved a few other boards and commissions, saying those would be re-constituted involving members of the three alliance partners - the JDU, RJD and Congress. Following the government directive, all members and chairpersons resigned from their posts.

With the women's commission becoming inactive, providing justice to women has become difficult. The boards were responsible for hearing and resolving domestic issues - from marital discord to infidelity, dowry harassment to property rights.

But now women are left without a forum to approach with their grievances. Almost a thousand cases are pending from the time the commission was dissolved .

"The commission's work has come to a standstill," said Anjum Ara, who was its chairperson when it was dissolved. "There is no doubt that women, especially those from rural areas, are facing difficulties now. However, it was the government's decision and we abided by its directive."

When it was fully functional, the panel addressed at least 20 cases a day. "When the commission was set up in 2001, around 550 cases were lodged that year alone. Now the number has shot up to over 1,600," Anjum said.

A complainant's presence before the commission is mandatory, when hearing a case, to rule out fake cases. "We have seen many cases in which a third party would lodge a complaint on behalf of the complainant, with or without her consent, and sometimes even fake signature," said a former panel member. "So we made appearance of the complainant mandatory at the first hearing.

District-level camps called Mahila Ayog Aapke Dwar were organised so that women didn't need to travel to Patna. "Such camps have ended too," the panel member said.

This is not the first crisis in the commission. In 2012, all seven commission members went on en-masse leave as they had not been paid for five months. In 2014, then chairperson Kahkashan Parveen resigned, and the post remained vacant for two months before Anjum was appointed.