Former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal has written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, accusing his ministers of making the women's panel a "weak institution". Meanwhile, Delhi BJP attacked the Kejriwal government over the letter and called it 'evidence of insensitivity towards women'.

Maliwal had resigned as the chairperson of the DCW following her nomination to the Rajya Sabha by the Aam Aadmi Party. In her letter to the chief minister, Maliwal alleged that the DCW staff has not been paid salary for the last six months, the panel's budget has been reduced by 28.5 per cent, the 181 helpline has been withdrawn, and no efforts have been made to fill the vacant posts of chairman and two members.

"Ever since I resigned from the post of chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, the ministers and officers of Delhi government have opened a front against the commission. "None of the staff has been paid salary for the last six months, the budget has been reduced by 28.5 per cent, 181 helpline has been withdrawn and no work has been done to fill the posts of chairman and two members," Maliwal said in a post in Hindi on X. Delhi Women and Child Development minister Kailash Gahlot on Monday said the women helpline 181 will now be run by his department and the number will remain inoperative for a few days for transition.

He said the central government plans to make it mandatory for the women's helpline to be run by the Department of Women and Child Development rather than the DCW.

In the same post, Maliwal said, "The post of a Dalit member is lying vacant for 1.5 years! As soon as I left, every possible effort was being made to make the Women's Commission a weak institution again. Why is the Delhi government showing hostility towards women? I have written a letter to @ArvindKejriwal ji seeking his reply!"

Later addressing a press conference, Delhi BJP MPs Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Bansuri Swaraj said that the poor condition of the DCW is evidence of Kejriwal's insensitivity towards women's safety.

Sehrawat mentioned that when Kejriwal appointed Maliwal as the chairperson of the DCW, there were grand claims about the Commission's work. "However, today, the same Swati Maliwal is questioning the miserable state of the women's commission in her letter to Kejriwal," she said. The West Delhi MP accused Kejriwal of betraying colleagues like Kiran Bedi and Shazia Ilmi, calling it 'an old policy of Kejriwal'. 

Swaraj highlighted that for many years before appointing Atishi, there was no woman in Kejriwal's cabinet, 'clearly showing the lack of importance of women in Kejriwal's government'.  She added that the High Court directed the Kejriwal government on May 9 and May 30 to immediately release salaries to all employees working in DCW but the government has not released the salaries.