Act against erring officials, DCW tells government

New Delhi: The DCW on Monday suggested that the Delhi government should take strict action against officers who are responsible for the “deplorable conditions” at a West Delhi beggar home.

Earlier, after a surprise visit to the beggar home in Nirmal Chhaya Complex, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal had issued notices to Delhi police and Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in connection with complaints regarding detention of foreign nationals at a beggar home.

The commission claimed that monitoring of the beggar home was very poor. The last visit to the beggar home by a higher official was by then secretary social welfare, Satbir Bedi, in May 2014, and by then director social welfare in March 2015, it said in a letter to the deputy chief minister and women and child development minister Manish Sisodia on Monday.

“Both these visits, wherein the officers visited other homes as well, were for a very short duration of time, one and two hours respectively. Subsequently, no social welfare secretary and director has visited the home, including the present incumbent,” the DCW said.

The women’s panel said the detainees, who are foreign nationals, have been denied their basic human rights in the home. According to the DCW, the foreign detainees stated that they were being discriminated against on account of majority of them being African Blacks. “Significant efforts need to be made to improve the condition of the beggar home and stringent guidelines should be issued to ensure the same,” the women’s panel said, adding that strict action should be taken against the officers.
for the serious lapses.

The DCW said that it should be ensured that the social welfare secretary and director should conduct at least one surprise inspection in a month to each home run by the social welfare department. It also suggested putting in place of strict monitoring systems, including installation of CCTV cameras.