Swati Maliwal with DCW members during a press conference.
Attacking at the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) for the removal of 223 contractual staff at the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), former chairperson of the women's rights body Swati Maliwal said that the Women Helpline Number in Delhi will cease to function if most of the staff members is removed since the Commission will be left with only eight staff members.
"They say that every contractual staff of Delhi Women Commission should be kicked out. There are a total of 90 staff, out of them there are only eight regular employees; for nine years we are asking them to provide staff, till the time they accord staff we did the contractual appointment which included acid attack survivors, rape survivors and domestic violence victims, so if all contractual staffs are removed then we are left with only eight staffs. How will the 181 helpline work?...," Ms Maliwal said speaking to ANI.
Slamming the LG for such a sudden decision, Swati Maliwal said that Mr Saxena wants to "put a lock on women's commission" which reflects his "negative mindset."
"How will the crisis intervention centre work? L-G wants to put a lock on women's commission. This shows the negative mindset which is anti-women...," she said.
Earlier in the day criticising the LG's order, Ms Maliwal posted on 'X' saying, "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. The Women's Commission will be shut down if all the contract staff is removed. Why are these people doing this?"
"This institution has been built with blood and sweat. Are you destroying it from its roots instead of giving it staff and protection? I will not let the Women's Commission be closed as long as I am alive. Put me in jail, don't torture women!" she added.
Delhi government issued notice to the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) to discontinue services of 223 contractual employees who it said were engaged without the approval of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
The Women and Child Development (WCD) department of the Delhi government has directed the DCW to remove the contractual staffers with immediate effect on the order of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
It was alleged that the then chairperson of the Delhi Women Commission, Swati Maliwal, had made the appointments without permission, going against the rules.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)