DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal: Government must be seen on the side of survivors, not rapists
DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal recently visited violence-hit Manipur where sexual assaults against women showed an ugly face of the society.…
The contractual staff of Delhi Commission for Women on Tuesday silently protested outside the woman’s body office against non-payment of salaries for the last three months. They also submitted a memorandum to member secretary Alka Dewan requesting her to release their salaries.
Kuma, a consultant for 181 Women Helpline said, “We have not received salary for the last three months and now we don’t have money to commute. Some of the staff have mortgaged their gold to meet the daily expenses.” Mohini, assistant coordinator in Delhi Commission for Women and an acid attack survivor, said, “We are facing many problems due to non-payment of salary. I have a one-year old baby and he was sick. As I didn’t have money to take him to a doctor, I borrowed money from a neighbour to take him to a doctor. The situation is so bad that it is better to commit suicide,” The staffs are working in the rape crisis cell, mobile helpline, 181 women helpline, mahila panchayat, etc.
Among the unpaid workers, some are orphans of Nari Niketan, acid attack survivors, dowry harassment survivors and women from extremely vulnerable backgrounds. DCW chief Swati Maliwal said, “For three long months, the entire contractual workforce of DCW has been denied their salaries. Over 90 per cent of them earn less than Rs 25,000. They are on the verge of leaving their jobs. I believe they are continuing only because they understand that the programmes of the commission will close if they do so. I have worked in nights to build the present DCW. It is really painful to see its work sabotaged in this manner by the present member secretary. I urge Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to immediately intervene and ensure our salaries.”
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“Our commission is the only gover nment body which functions even on Saturdays. It is difficult for us to survive without salaries for three months. We will be forced to quit jobs under these circumstances,” said the memorandum.
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