NEW DELHI: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Thursday approved the immediate dismissal of 223 positions from the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), created under the tenure of former DCW chief and AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Swati Maliwal. Out of 223 ‘illegally’ created posts, 52 positions had been filled, while the rest remained vacant.
The Women and Child Development (WCD) department of the Delhi government, with approval from L-G Saxena, terminated the 52 ‘illegally’ appointed employees from the DCW. This decision was based on an enquiry report submitted to former Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal in February 2017, which cited issues like appointing personnel without evaluating the necessity of the posts and creating financial burdens on the government without approval from the Finance Department.
Former DCW chief Swati Maliwal slammed Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena for approving the dismissal of 223 DCW employees, including women acid attack survivors, citing their employment as “irregular” and “illegal.” Maliwal, in a post on ‘X’, said: “Today these acid attack victims were also fired from their jobs… Delhi Women’s Commission had given them a new life. God is watching everything.” Swati Maliwal severely criticised the order in a Hindi post on ‘X’, stating: “L-G Saheb has issued a ‘Tughlaqi’ order to remove all the contract staff of DCW. Today, there are a total of 90 staffers in the Women’s Commission, out of which only 8 people have been given by the government, the rest are on a contract for 3 months each.”
Maliwal also expressed concern over the potential closure of the DCW if all contractual staff is removed, on account of only 8 members being government-appointed out of the 90 employees, while the rest remain contractual employees.
The official order issued by the WCD department on Monday read: “...the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor has approved the proposal of the department that the appointments of contractual staff engaged in DCW without having sanctioned posts and without following due procedures is void-ab-initio and the same cannot be allowed to continue in DCW.”
The order also mentioned that the Delhi government has provided 40 sanctioned posts in the DCW “in compliance (with) sub-section (i) of section 5 of the Delhi Commission for Women Act, 1994”.
The aforementioned ACT states: “The government shall provide the commission with such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the Commission under this Act.”
Swati Malwal expressed her concerns: “If all the contract staff are removed, the Women’s Commission will be locked. Why are these people doing this? This organisation is built with blood and sweat. Instead of giving it staff and protection, you are destroying it from the roots? As long as I am alive, I will not let the Women’s Commission be closed. Put me in jail, but don’t oppress women!”
She also claimed that the DCW was the first women’s body to raise its voice over issues like the Manipur incident and complaints of female wrestlers against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.“If they are angry with me they can send all the agencies after me and put me in jail,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
She said the DCW should be preserved and provided with funds and staff to work to help the women. with agency inputs