The Delhi Women's Commission (DCW) has dismissed its contract employees with immediate effect. Assistant Secretary Gautam Mazumdar released the order following approval from the Delhi LG, complying with the ministry's directive from April 2024.
Earlier Dismissals in April
This year, the dismissal of contract staff by the DCW on April 29 sparked controversy. Former DCW chief Swati Maliwal targeted Lt. Governor VK Saxena, alleging that 223 positions created in DCW were illegal and should be abolished, impacting contractual employees. Maliwal argued that without these employees, essential DCW branches like Women Helpline 181 and Crisis Intervention Centers couldn't have managed numerous cases over the past eight years. So, why were these employees dismissed, and how many were affected? The Women and Child Development Department issued an order on April 29 to terminate DCW's contract staff, citing findings from a 2017 report submitted to Delhi's Lt. Governor.
The order indicated that the creation of 223 positions in DCW was unauthorized, lacking approval from the finance department and the Lt. Governor. Additional Director Dr. Navalendra Kumar Singh's order highlighted that no assessment preceded the creation of new positions on the women's panel.
The saga began in September 2016 when DCW created 223 extra positions at a meeting on September 9, 2016. Weeks later, the Women and Child Development Department requested DCW’s member secretary to clarify the grants provided to the commission.
Terms stated that the DCW would neither undertake activities nor create positions imposing extra financial burdens on the government without approval from administrative and finance and planning departments.
In October 2016, the Ministry of Women and Child Development reiterated that the creation of 223 additional positions hadn’t secured the Lt. Governor’s approval.
By February 2017, then Lt. Governor Anil Baijal ordered a committee to investigate ‘illegal appointments and multiple irregularities at DCW,’ chaired by the Chief Secretary with Principal Secretary (Finance), Secretary (Law and Justice), and Secretary (DWCD) as members.