Swati Maliwal takes charge as DCW chief

Ananya Panda

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 20

Swati Maliwal (30), wife of Aam Aadmi Party leader Naveen Jaihind, took charge as the chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday.  She succeeds Barkha Shukla, who held the post since 2007 February.

After assuming charge, Maliwal said safety of women and making Delhi ‘rape-free’ would be her top priorities.

Maliwal, who calls herself a social activist and not a “politician”, said she aimed to achieve more in the next eight months than what the commission did in the last eight years.

The BJP and the Congress had criticised Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for appointing her. They accused the Chief Minister of nepotism and giving plum posts to his loyalists. 

Maliwal, the former adviser (grievances) to the Delhi Chief Minister, refuted allegations that her appointment was political. She called the allegations “patriarchal and regressive” and said she got the post on merit.

Maliwal is an RTI activist and has been associated with Kejriwal since 2006 at Parivartan and the India Against Corruption.  She was the youngest core member of the Anna-led 23-member committee.

A former software engineer, the new DCW chairperson said the commission would “not allow” politics over women issues.

When asked about the case involving AAP leader Somnath Bharti, she said, “Our first aim is to unite families, but we will not tolerate any injustice done to any woman. The law will take its own course. I have not met the victim (Bharti’s wife who has accused him of mental and torture and domestic violence) and yet to understand the case.”

Among other major plans, Maliwal said the commission would fast-track cases of rapes and acid attacks etc and set up a Women Safety Committee comprising national and international experts and would be visible more on the ground.

Other members of the newly constituted DSW include Promila Gupta, Farheen Malik and Sarika Chaudhary.