Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has removed 223 employees of the capital's women commission who were allegedly appointed by AAP MP Swati Maliwal during her term as chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women in violation of the rules.
Citing the Delhi Commission for Women Act, the order issued by the Lieutenant Governor's office said that the panel has a sanctioned strength of 40 employees and that 223 new posts were created without the approval of the Lieutenant Governor.
The order further states that the commission does not have the authority to hire employees on contract. The action has been taken on the basis of an inquiry report submitted to the then Lieutenant Governor in February 2017, reported NDTV.
It says that the commission had been informed that they shall not take any step "which entails additional financial liability for the government" without the approval of the finance department.
Reacting to the development, Maliwal has slammed the Lieutenant Governor's order, saying that the women's commission will shut down if all contractual staff are removed.
She said the panel has a total of 90 staff members now. Out of them, 8 are from the government and the remaining are on three-month contracts.
Taking to X, Maliwal wrote,” LG sahab has issued a Tughlaqi order to remove all the contract staff of DCW. Today, the Women's Commission has a total staff of 90 out of which only 8 people have been provided by the government, the rest are on 3-month contracts. If all the contract staff is removed, the Women's Commission will be locked.”
"Why are they doing this? This organisation has been nourished with blood and sweat. I will not let the women commission shut down. Put me in jail, but don't torture women,” she said in a post in Hindi.
The order, issued by the Additional Director of the Women and Child Development department, also stated that no evaluation of essential posts was carried out before the appointments.
Maliwal headed the Delhi Commission for Women for nine years before entering Rajya Sabha as an AAP MP.
The post of the panel's chairperson is currently vacant. The order mentions that Maliwal was advised repeatedly to seek the finance department's approval with regard to the appointments.
The crackdown is the new flashpoint between the Lieutenant Governor's office and the ruling AAP over the administration of the national capital.
The AAP has previously accused the Lieutenant Governor's office of blocking its governance steps.
The Lieutenant Governor is a central appointee, and AAP has accused the ruling BJP of not allowing it to act freely.
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