DCW ex-chief files complaint against Arvind Kejriwal

Alleging nepotism and favouritism in appointments, former Delhi Commission for Women chief Barkha Shukla Singh on Friday filed a complaint with the anti-corruption branch against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and incumbent women panel president, Swati Maliwal.

The former DCW chief alleged that several AAP supporters were given plum jobs in the women’s panel, “ignoring the basic parameters of appointment”. In her complaint to the Delhi ACB, the ex-DCW chief also named 85 people “who got jobs without requisite credentials and are drawing lakhs of rupees from the Delhi government exchequer”. “A detailed inquiry on such illegal activities should be conducted and immediate action should be taken against Mr Arvind Kejriwal, Ms Swati Maliwal and the other persons who are involved,” she said. Ms Maliwal, however, rubbished the allegations, saying the current staff is needed in her office considering the number of cases the women’s panel handles. “During her tenure of nine years in DCW, Barkha Shukla Singh handled only one case. During this period, the commission made no recommendation to the government and conducted only six visits despite having a staff of about 50 officers. I have handled over 400 cases in the past one year. We have made several recommendations to the government,”she said.

Meanwhile, over 50 police stations in Delhi have been issued notices by the DCW in the last ten months for not reporting the cases of rape and sexual assault to its Rape Crisis Cell (RCC). The heads of 54 police stations have been asked to provide a written explanation to the commission as to why the Rape Crisis Cell or Crisis Intervention Centre (CIC) of DCW was not informed about all the incidents. Officials said that the DCW has issued 82 noties to 54 police stations in the last ten months for non-compliance with the RCC order.