Delhi increasingly treacherous for women, says Swati Maliwal

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief sees no “silver lining” for Delhi, which she said is becoming increasingly treacherous for women. Alleging lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung and his new appointee in DCW, IAS officer Dilraj Kaur, for creating obstacles for the commission, Ms Mailwal said the commission is facing undue “political attack.” She accused Ms Kaur, whose appointment as the member secretary of DCW has been termed “illegal” by her, of stalling the Union government scheme for rape survivors. Ms Maliwal told Pratik Kumar that there is a need for a high-level committee to establish a communication link between the Delhi government and the Centre.

Q: Horrifying incidents of rape continues even four years after the brutal December 16 incident. Do you sense a growing apathy towards crimes against women?
Maliwal: Crimes have increased and the brutality has also grown. An 11-month-old baby was recently raped for two hours altogether and was found in a bloodied state in a jungle. These kinds of incidents are growing. It is a matter of great concern.

Q: Despite all the promises, CCTV cameras have not been installed in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and a majority of dark spots are yet to be illuminated. In your letter, you pointed out that the Centre and the Delhi government should sit together to sort out these issues. Why has coordination become so difficult?
Maliwal: There are too many agencies and too much distribution of power. There is also misuse of power. That is why I have appealed to the Centre that a high-level committee should exist. Once the committee is set up, it is there for life. At least once or twice a month, these people should meet, as there is not coordination whatsoever. Delhi police is under the Central government and rest of the agencies come under the state government and even those have to go through the L-G. One can read what kind of politics is going on in Delhi and the ultimate sufferers are the women.

Q: Mr Kejriwal accused the L-G of doing politics over the women safety issue. He also said that Mr Jung has stopped salaries of all employees in DCW.
Maliwal: It is true. It is not an accusation. It is also very unfortunate that the DCW has been pulled into all this politics. The L-G is now interfering with the functioning of the commission. We are an autonomous body. Why has he posted Ms Dilraj Kaur, who is the WCD secretary, as member secretary in the commission on additional charge?

Q: So you see a conflict of interest in Ms Kaur’s appointment?
Maliwal: Absolutely. If you look at the number of notices issued to her, you’ll see that lady has direct conflict of interest with the commission. If she is so good, then why can’t she ensure that the Nari Niketans are functioning properly? Why does the L-G interfere with the commission which has hardly a budget of Rs 7 crore?

Q: DCW was supposed to work with the Union ministry of women and child development to open one-stop centre for rape survivors. How much progress has been made?
Maliwal: You should ask Ms Dilraj Kaur because she is sitting over the file. The point is that the chief minister and Ms Menka Gandhi-ji had met and decided that DCW will be given these 11 one-stop centres. But that decision needs to be implemented by the WCD ministry, which has Ms Dilraj Kaur on board.

Q: The Asian Age reported quoting sources in the ministry that they have not received any proposal on the one-stop centres.
Maliwal: The proposal has to be prepared by the WCD ministry, but Ms Dilraj Kaur has to implement it. She is claiming to be the member secretary of the commission even though she can’t implement a simple thing like opening one-stop centres.