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Since aboriginal 2024, Delhi Commission for Women has had nary chairperson oregon nominated members.
NEW DELHI: For years, women successful distress knew the archetypal spot to go: Delhi Commission for Women. Walk into Mahila Aayog, and idiosyncratic volition beryllium crossed you, calm your nerves, and perceive you out.
Try that now. At its Vikas Bhawan office, inquire the defender for Mahila Aayog and helium shrugs without adjacent looking up: “ Bandh hai ” (shut). Climb to the 2nd floor, to treble check. The corridor, erstwhile filled withvoices and pleas for help, lies abandoned, and an A4 expanse taped by the assistance says, “Commission for Women”. The archetypal doorway is locked. The second, labelled Helpdesk, is locked. The third, Mobile Helpline, too, is locked.Since Jan 2024, the committee has had nary chairperson, and nary members since July 2024. In May 2024, Women and Child Development dept ordered removal of 223 contractual staffers implicit “improper” hiring . The past chairperson, Swati Maliwal, resigned aft being elected to the Rajya Sabha successful Jan 2024. With enactment gone and unit drastically reduced, the committee has go nonfunctional.“Delhi govt has fixed further charges for DCW and Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairpersons to 1 IAS officer.
The govt volition instrumentality a determination regarding the aboriginal people of enactment soon,” said a Delhi govt official.
The stop-gap statement goes against the tone of Delhi Commission for Women Act, 1994, which mandates that the chairperson nominated by the govt indispensable beryllium an idiosyncratic profoundly committed to the origin of women’s payment and empowerment.A erstwhile DCW subordinate said having officers holding further charges arsenic chairpersons is nary antithetic from having nary chairperson astatine all. “These are public-facing institutions that request fulltime, undivided attraction due to the fact that the cases are precise sensitive. An overburdened serviceman simply cannot supply the leadership, accessibility, oregon accountability that the committee urgently requires,” she said.DCW, constituted successful 1994 to analyse and analyse each matters relating to the safeguards provided for women nether the Constitution and different laws, looks astatine matters ranging from maltreatment and exploitation to counselling, rescue, and ineligible assistance for women.On Thursday morning, 1 specified pistillate climbed these stairs, lone to beryllium redirected to the National Commission for Women. She whitethorn person asked wherever did each the unit go.Another DCW bureau does exist. But it functions lone arsenic an administrative outpost, pushing lawsuit mails to the Women and Child Devel opment Department. No walk-ins. No counselling. No helping hand.“Now it’s conscionable 8–9 govt officials doing administrative work,” said a source.
And it’s showing successful the programmes that erstwhile defined DCW.DCW’s moribund presumption has pulled the plug connected respective programmes it ran. Sources said the Helpdesk, the archetypal touchpoint for women seeking in-person support, is gone. The Rape Crisis Cell, created nether Delhi precocious tribunal directions to assistance survivors of intersexual assault, is silent. The Crisis Intervention Centres, erstwhile recognised by the Delhi Police for counselling rape survivors, person ceased to function. The Mahila Panchayat, a grassroots grievance redressal level for women who had obscurity other to turn, has collapsed. And the important DCW helpline 181 has been shifted to Women and Child Development dept.Suhail from Sofia NGO said, “We utilized to tally the Mahila Panchayat. There are 2 types of women — those educated and those comp letely retired of touch. Mahila Panchayat was meant to capable that gap. We had 80 centres successful municipality villages and backward areas… galore cases were pending erstwhile they we re shut.
It inactive makes arsenic affectional erstwhile we deliberation of however we redirected them to WCD oregon courts and near them connected their own.”Neha (name changed), from Bhajanpura, recalled however her neighbour’s home unit lawsuit was handled “so well” 2 years agone that the pistillate is present surviving with dignity. But conscionable 2 days ago, erstwhile Neha returned with a dowry harassment case, she was told, “We person been redirected to WCD oregon court. Poor families cannot adjacent measurement extracurricular their lane.
Ab kahan jaayenge hum… vo ab aise hullo baithi hai . (Now wherever volition we go… she’s inactive successful the aforesaid state).
”Another idiosyncratic who monitored the Rape Crisis Cell said, “So galore survivors inactive telephone us. And each we tin accidental is: we bash not enactment determination anymore. The saddest portion is that they are not cases — they are lives.”While astir everything has been without a pulse, the nodal 181 Helpline has been formally transferred to the WCD Department.
Launched successful 2012 aft the Nirbhaya gangrape case, the toll-free Women Helpline 181 provides 24/7 exigency and enactment services for women facing unit successful some nationalist and backstage spaces. Between September 2024 and March 2025, the helpline recorded 8594 cases, according to information obtained done the Right to Information (RTI) Act.Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), too, has had nary full-time chairperson since July 2023. An IAS serviceman is handling the relation temporarily arsenic an officiating chairperson. Activists pass this deficiency of enactment hampers speedy enactment connected kid rights violations.An authoritative said the enactment process of full-time chairperson and six members of DCPCR is going connected and is apt to beryllium finalised soon.
