Implement court orders on allowances to contractual officers: L-G to Delhi govt

New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has directed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) to implement the judicial orders for paying allowances to Contractual

Welfare Officers in the Department of Social Welfare, informed sources from the Raj Niwas on Friday.

The officers had initially filed an application in 2014 for the same, following which two CAT orders were passed in 2015. The appeals from the Department of Social Welfare, and Department of Women and Child Development were also dismissed by the Delhi High Court in 2017. These orders were challenged in the Supreme Court, and dismissed, along with rejecting the Review Petitions of the Department on March 21, 2023.

According to Raj Niwas sources, Saxena had approved the implementation of the Courts’ orders in May 2023 itself, but the Department had allegedly taken eight months to process the matter. Additionally, the Social Welfare Department allegedly took no action after the 2015 order as well.

“Such avoidable and whimsical delays on the part of the department left the petitioners with no other option but to approach the judiciary with multiple Contempt Petitions and Miscellaneous applications, in turn causing squander of public funds on unnecessary litigation. This instance of careless and unperceptive inaction on part of the Department, warrants stringent action at appropriate level,” mentioned the L-G.

The sources added, “Accordingly, the department has been directed to identify and fix the responsibility of the officers and officials responsible for causing undue delay in the above matter within 15 days. L-G asked for the department to be suitably sensitized to avoid any such recurrence of delays in

future and process all administrative matters with due care and alacrity.”