WCD Dept sacks 52 employees of Delhi Commission for Women

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 2

The Women and Child Development (WCD) Department of the Delhi Government has sacked 52 “illegally appointed” contractual employees of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), citing violations of rules, drawing a sharp reaction from former panel chief Swati Maliwal, who dubbed the move as a ‘Tughlaqi’ order of Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena.

According to an official, the terminations were effected on the basis of a report submitted by a high-powered committee in 2017.

Earlier, an order issued on April 29 said the WCD Department had terminated the services of 223 contractual staff, but the department issued a clarification on Thursday, saying it had directed for the termination of 52 such employees.

Previous tussles between L-G, AAP

• Control of service-related matters, including appointments and transfers of bureaucrats
• Supply of ‘non-standard’ drugs being supplied at Delhi government hospitals
• Removal of 400 private persons as specialists in various government departments of Delhi
• Bus marshals removed from the Delhi Transport Corporation buses
• AAP had alleged that hurdles were created to impede the process of sending government school teachers to Finland for a training

According to another official, 223 posts were “illegally” created, but only 52 staffers were hired and the remaining posts were vacant.

The department sent a proposal on the basis of the committee’s recommendations to Saxena who approved it, following which the department issued the order, the officials said.

There was no immediate reaction from the L-G’s office to the allegations.

The WCD Department said Maliwal had hired the employees on contract without government permission and against the established rules.

The order cited violations of the DCW Act of 1994 and various instructions from the Department of Finance and Planning Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).

In light of these “illegalities”, the L-G approved the department’s proposal, stating that the appointments of contractual staff were void ab initio.

Meanwhile, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal slammed the order. In a post on X, she said, “There are 90 employees in DCW out of which only eight are permanent and the rest 82 are contractual workers employed for low wages at three months contracts.”

Holding a press conference later in the day, Maliwal said, “The commission has conducted over 2.5 lakh ground visits through mobile helpline programme, more than 50,000 community meetings have been conducted and over 2 lakh cases have been taken up by the mahila panchayat.”

Expressing concern for the employees who have lost their jobs, Maliwal highlighted that many of them are survivors of crimes, acid attacks and domestic violence who have dedicated their time and energy to serving other women in the country.

Some of the employees who lost their jobs were orphans living in shelter homes and were employed in the DCW, she added.

She emphasised the disparity between the number of employees and the magnitude of the tasks performed, questioning whether eight people could effectively manage the responsibilities of the Delhi Commission for Women.

Sachdeva condemns ‘unconstitutional working’ of AAP govt

New Delhi: Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva has denounced the “unconstitutional anarchic working” of the AAP government, particularly targeting former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal regarding the removal of DCW employees. “It is shocking to see Maliwal claim that contractual employees were necessary due to the lack of regular posts at DCW,” remarked Sachdeva. “Can she explain why she never attempted to sanction new posts during her eight-year tenure,” he asked. He criticised the employment of volunteers from Maliwal’s NGOs, mostly from other states, on contractual jobs without adhering to administrative procedures. “Contractual jobs were distributed without following proper procedures, leading to the current situation,” said Sachdeva.

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