Nirmal appointed minorities commission chief, Lata gets DCW post

Nirmal Jain, the new chairperson of the Delhi Minorities Commission, is a former mayor and a veteran BJP leader with five decades association with the RSS. Jain became the first non-Muslim head of the commission formed in 2000. While Delhi BJP vice president and former MCD councillor Lata Gupta has been appointed Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which had been lying vacant for more than two years,

Aiming to improve institutional support for women and marginalised sections of society, the Delhi Government appointed new heads and members of the Delhi Commission for Women and Delhi Minorities Commission on Sunday.

The Minorities Commission had been headless for three years after Jain’s predecessor Zakir Khan stepped down in 2023. Kuldeep Singh and Mohammad Haroon have been nominated as its members.

Jain, 70, in his profile shared that he was a volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) for 50 years and also associated with Jansangh, the precursor of the BJP, as treasurer of its Shahdara district unit. In 1977, he served as a Vistarak of RSS in Jammu. Jain was associated with Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, an affiliate of RSS, and took part in student politics at Delhi University, reads his profile.

Jain has been associated with the BJP since the inception of the party in 1980 and served as president of Shahdara district. In 2007, he won civic body polls from Shahdara ward in the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). He served as Leader of House in EDMC from 2018 to 2020 and became mayor of East Delhi in 2021.  Jain, a commerce and law graduate of DU, has a family business.

The Delhi Minorities Commission was set up under the Delhi Minorities Commission Act, 1999, passed by the Delhi Legislative Assembly on December 24, 1999, to safeguard the rights and interests of the minority communities. Under the Act, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi have been notified as minority communities. The “Jain” community was notified as Minority Community in the NCT of Delhi through a notification dated October 13, 2008. The commission comprises a chairperson and two members from the minority communities of Delhi, nominated by the Delhi government. Kuldeep Singh and Mohammad Harron have been appointed its members.

The Rekha Gupta government also reconstituted the DCW. Shyam Bala, Malti Verma, Lata Sidhi, Sanrakshika Sharma Jha and Renu Bhalla have been appointed members of the commission, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a post on X.

The DCW chairperson’s post fell vacant after Swati Maliwal resigned in January 2024 after the then ruling AAP decided to send her to the Rajya Sabha.

According to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the Delhi Government is ensuring that women and minority communities receive effective protection of their rights, dignified opportunities and timely justice. She said that the Delhi Commission for Women and the Delhi Minorities Commission are not merely statutory bodies but important platforms that will strengthen public trust and amplify the voices of the weaker and disadvantaged sections of society.

The Chief Minister expressed confidence that the Chairpersons and Members of both Commissions would discharge their responsibilities with fairness, sensitivity and complete transparency while playing a significant role in the prompt and effective resolution of matters concerning public interest.

According to the Chief Minister, the Delhi Government remains committed to ensuring dignity, safety and equal opportunities for every section of society.

Lata Gupta has consistently worked in the areas of organisational development, women’s empowerment and public welfare.

She has previously served as the general secretary of the Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha and as the district president of the BJP’s Shahdara district unit. Owing to her active role in the organisation, leadership abilities and strong public outreach, she has been entrusted with several key responsibilities over the years.

She was elected as a municipal councillor from Shakarpur Ward from 2007 to 2012 and from Pandav Nagar Ward from 2012 to 2017. During her tenure as a public representative, she worked actively on issues related to local development, women’s safety, education, sanitation and the expansion of civic amenities.