Kejriwal writes to L-G against Dewan's appointment

Calling the recent appointment of Alka Dewan as DCW Member Secretary as “unconstitutional”, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to L-G Najeeb Jung to cancel the appointment.

This comes after Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal had said that Dewan is also the serving VAT Commissioner and and has been given the additional charge of member secretary which is in violation of the DCW Act which calls for a full-time member secretary. She had then written to Kejriwal for “urgent intervention”.

She has also said that Dewan has denied salaries to contractual staff of DCW for the past three months which is affecting the functioning of the commission. On Sunday, the DCW said that Kejriwal has written to Jung, informing him about the “problems being created to stall the functioning of DCW”.

“Alka Dewan appears to have been stalling the functioning of the commission. It appears that a situation is being created in the commission where it is being brought to the verge of closure. Even the acid survivors, orphans from Nari Niketan and other contractual workers of the commission who have been running the programs of the commission have not been paid salaries for the past three months,” the letter to Jung said.

“These employees come from extremely vulnerable backgrounds and cannot afford to work for long without salaries. If these employees stop working, the Delhi Commission for Women will be closed as commission has only 20 government employees who are involved only in administrative work. These 20 employees include only three women," the official said.