A day after Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung appointed Women and Child Development Secretary Dilraj Kaur as the member secretary of Delhi Commission for Women, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal likened the former to Hitler on Wednesday.
"L-G is acting like Hitler, following in footsteps of his masters Mr Modi n Amit Shah," Mr. Kejriwal tweeted. He went on to say that Mr. Jung’s hope of becoming the country’s Vice-President will never be fulfilled. “Najeeb Jung in his hope to become Vice-President has sold his soul to Modi. But Modi will never make a Muslim the Vice-President, no matter what Jung does," he tweeted.
The appointment of member secretary to DCW has emerged as another bone of contention between Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Jung. A fortnight ago, the Chief Minister in his note had termed the appointment of Alka Dewan on the same post as “illegal and unconstitutional”, stating that the L-G did not consider the names suggested by the Delhi government.
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‘Stopgap arrangement’
The L-G office, however, said the appointment of Ms. Kaur (on Tuesday) was necessitated by retirement of Alka Dewan on November 30.
“The post fell vacant so a stopgap arrangement was made. This is a temporary appointment as the Lt-Governor felt the post should not remain vacant considering its importance,” an official in the L-G office said.
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The office also rejected the government’s claim that a proposal made by it with regard to the appointment of DCW member secretary was pending with it.
“In fact, we have asked the Chief Secretary to come and give us the government’s recommendation if any,” the official added.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal had sought Mr. Kejriwal's intervention, claiming that the appointment of Alka Dewan had led to the stalling of functioning of the Commission and was subverting its autonomy.
‘Conflict of interest’
On Wednesday, addressing a press conference, Ms. Maliwal said that appointment of WCD secretary Dilraj Kaur as member secretary of DCW is a case of conflict of interest and an attempt to attack the "autonomy and independence" of the Commission.
Mr. Jung in his order issued on Tuesday gave additional charge to Ms. Kaur despite the opposition of the Delhi government and the DCW.
"The L-G through his actions is disrupting the functioning of the Commission. This (Ms. Kaur’s) appointment is unconstitutional and illegal as due procedure has not been followed. The nomination by the Delhi government and its concurrence, which is a prerequisite for the appointment of the member secretary, was not sought," Ms. Maliwal said.
She added that the DCW will approach the President seeking his intervention in the matter.
‘Not acceptable’
She said she will not accept the appointment of Ms. Kaur as she continues to hold another post -- WCD secretary.
“The Commission constantly issues notices to the WCD Ministry on issues relating to lapses in shelter homes like Nari Niketan and Nirmal Chhaya, development of rehabilitation scheme for victims and creation of crèches. And now they have made her (Ms. Kaur) the member secretary," she said.
She claimed that the L-G had earlier unilaterally decided to appoint Alka Dewan as the DCW member secretary. During Ms. Dewan’s tenure, three-month salaries of entire contractual staff of the Commission, many of whom had been working since 1998, were held back.
"In the entire history of DCW, member secretaries have always been appointed with concurrence of elected government," she said.