SWATI MALIWAL JAIHIND
editSwati Maliwal is the current and the youngest, so far,Chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). Born on 15th October 1984, at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, she has been an activist for women’s causes from a very young age. She was in the forefront of the protest against the Nirbhaya rape and has lead many protests for women’s rights and issues. In the two and a half years since she’s been appointed as commissioner, Swati Maliwal has oriented the activities of the DCW into something of a crusade. Since becoming the Chief she has taken on more than 11,000 cases of domestic violence, rapes, human trafficking,molestations and acid attacks till date.
Early life and education
editSwati Maliwal was born to Mr Ashok Maliwal(father) and Mrs. Sangita Maliwal(mother) in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, in a normal middle class family. She completed her school education from Amity International School, Noida in 2002. After completing her school, she initially joined Lady Shri Ram College of Delhi University but later dropped out because she wanted to be an engineer. She then did her B.Tech(Information Technology) from JSS Academy of Technical Education, UPTU, in 2006. She received a Certificate of Merit for the English language from CBSE. She chose not to work for multinational companies as an engineer, even though she received an offer from HCL.[1] Instead, she chose to do social work and began her career at the age of 21 with an NGO called “Parivartan” started by Mr. Arvind Kejriwal.
The Activist
editShe joined up with the late Ms. Santosh Koli to work at “Parivartan” for the rights of the residents of an East Delhi rehabilitation colony “Sundernagri”. Gender issues, benefits under government schemes and self help groups of women were the areas of focus for her.
From 2006 to 2012 she worked at Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF).She was the Administrative and Financial Manager at PCRF and was responsible for overall management which included planning, coordination, finance, budgeting, policy decisions as well as supervision of staff during 2008-2012. [2] During this period, she was awarded a fellowship from Association for India’s Development (A.I.D) for development work.
She has campaigned for Greenpeace India from 2013–2014 as a part of ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture). She travelled extensively through many states of india mainly, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal and Haryana and studied the impact of pesticides. She formulated a policy framework to provide safe food for women and children.
In 2014,in a global conference on ‘Crisis Response Management’ in Athens, Greece, she represented Greenpeace.[3]
At PCRF she headed the People’s Project and organised the “Swaraj Abhiyan” which was a coalition of activists and organisations to bring about a decentralisation of power in the country.
She travelled to various villages across the country, conducted a survey based on data gathered from Gram sabhas to draft a “Panchayati Raj Bill” for rural areas and a “Model Nagar Bill” for urban areas. These Bills were the basis of the Delhi Nagar Swaraj Bill presented in the Delhi Assembly.
“Mohalla Sabhas” were public meetings organised by her in various municipal wards of delhi and were supported by the Lt. Governor of delhi. These were an experiment in public dialogue about government schemes.
She conducted regular public meetings (Mohalla Sabhas) in municipal wards of Delhi for 2 years, a unique experiment which helped achieve greater public participation in government schemes and received support from Lt. Governor of Delhi. As a consultant to the Bihar government, she worked on the “‘Integrated Child Development Scheme’ (ICDS) and helped improve the participation of mothers in the scheme. Alongwith social activists like Ms Medha Patkar and Mr B.D. Sharma she prepared an alternative framework in place of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984 for the project affected people of the Yamuna Highway project. Her experiences and research were incorporated in Mr. Arvind Kejriwal’s book “Swaraj”.
Swati Maliwal was the Head of the first ever “Right to Information Awards - 2009”. She herself has been an RTI activist and was pivotal in organising this award. A report titled “State of Information Commissions in India- A performance evaluation” has been co-authored by her. She has organised many protests and awareness campaigns on women issues and RTI Act. her commitment to public rights’ issues lead to Mr. Kejriwal appointing her as Adviser for Public Grievances. From May to October of 2014 she worked as a Development Consultant with MLAs of Delhi. The MLAs received great help from her team which made development work easy in constituencies and resulted in better utilisation of their allotted funds.[4]
India Against Corruption- Anna Andolan
editIn 2011, when the nation wide movement, India Against Corruption was started by Anna Hazare, demanding a Jan Lokpal, Swati Maliwal joined the movement as its youngest member of the Core Committee. The Core Committee was a 23 member body comprised of Mr. Anna Hazare, Mr.Arvind Kejriwal, Ms.Kiran Bedi, Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Mr. N. Santosh Hegde. She was the Coordinator of Delhi during the Anna Andolan. Her extensive analysis and examination of various aspects of controlling corruption and improving systems contributed to the drafting of the Jan Lokpal Bill (enacting which was the main demand of the anti-corruption movement)
As the Head of the Mobilisation Team she organised and led several national level and state level campaigns, programmes and protests. Her team developed and implemented offline and online strategies for campaigning. Effective usage of SMS and other mobile technologies as innovative tools for spreading awareness and garnering support for the movement was deployed by her team. She was responsible for volunteer engagement and training.
Delhi Commission for Women
editWhen she was appointed by the CM of Delhi, Mr Kejriwal, as the Chief of DCW in 2015, she admits to being shocked as she felt that there was not much to be done at DCW. When she read the legislation that governs the women’s commission she discovered that the commission could summon anyone, issue arrest warrants and even attach properties/salaries of people if required.[5] Under her leadership, the DCW has been energised. She has physically inspected various facilities, taken suo moto cognisance of cases and given policy level recommendations. She has formed herself into a champion of women and has used her powers as the chief of DCW to raid various sites of prostitution, human trafficking, illegal liquor outlets and ashram of Baba Virendradev Dixit to rescue young girls.
People at the red-light area of GB Road now recognise her as a known face. She has raided many brothels and rescued minor girls who were victims of human trafficking and prostitution. The women working in brothels have been helped by her in getting their Aadhar cards and their ration cards. Raids conducted by her in Narela helped nab the illegal liquor mafia. Women from that area had asked for her intervention regarding harassment. Seeing this many more women have asked for her intervention from various parts of delhi. Rape victims find themselves an ardent supporter in Swati Maliwal. She has helped innumerable rape victims get justice. Financial help too has been extended to their impoverished families. Many acid attack victims have been helped by her. She has been able to get help from Delhi Govt. to get free plastic surgery done for the girls. She’s been known to patrol the streets at night in areas where most cases of women’s harassment are reported. Upon her recommendation, the Delhi Govt. has agreed to provide free treatment to acid attack victims and has also taken up welfare and rehabilitation programs for sex workers.[6] Placement agencies, some of which are running a human trafficking racket under the guise of providing domestic help, have been at the receiving end of her scrutiny and overhaul. Under Ms.Swati, DCW is the only public commission which works on Saturdays.[7] Alongwith the fame and media glare, many criticisms and accusations have come her way. From being charged with revealing names of victims to being accused of gaining an advantage due to nepotism, she has faced many allegations in her short term as chief of DCW.[8] Her most impressive achievement has been the faith that women are building in her to stand by them in their adverse times. She is very easily accessible unlike other govt heads and is extremely compassionate, so much so that sometimes her compassion causes her to breakdown in hospitals and courthouses when she is faced with the horrifying cases.[9]
References
edit1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/05/woman-tackling-delhi-rape-crisis-swati-maliwal
2. https://www.toppost.co/swati-maliwal-wiki-age-bio-height-net-worth-husband/
4. https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/01/swati-maliwal-delhi-commission-for-women/
6. http://www.jantakareporter.com/india/swati-maliwal-breaks-inside-delhi-high-court/160006/
External Links
edit8. http://www.delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/lib_dcw/DCW/Default/Swati+Maliwal