223 DCW employees, appointed by AAP's Swati Maliwal, removed
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved the dismissal of 223 contractual employees at the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). The Department of Women and Child Development has said that these people were hired contractually by former DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal "without obtaining necessary government approvals and in violation of established protocols."
Lieutenant Governor's office details DCW's violations
The Lieutenant Governor's office issued an order detailing the DCW's "infractions." The order stated, "DCW has violated the statutory provisions of DCW Act, 1994 and various standing instructions of the Department of Finance & Planning Department, GNCTD by creating 223 posts and engaging staff without following due procedure." It was also noted that no assessment was conducted to determine the need for additional staff and no administrative consent was secured for such recruitment.
Read the full order here
DCW's unlawful actions lead to nullification of appointments
The order from Saxena's office further highlighted that no formal invitations were extended for these positions, and these posts were not assigned. It also pointed out that "emoluments of some of the incumbents which were decided at the time of initial appointment, were enhanced very sharply and arbitrarily." Given these violations, Saxena sanctioned a proposal to declare these appointments null and void from the outset.
Maliwal headed the DWC for 9 years
Maliwal headed the DCW for nine years before moving to the Rajya Sabha in January. She was the youngest person to hold the post. Maliwal was nominated to the Upper House by the Aam Aadmi Party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC), which is chaired by AAP national chairman and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The position of DCW chairperson is currently vacant.
