181 women’s helpline to function under DCW
The 181 helpline for women in Delhi will now function under the Delhi Commission for Women with the AAP government handing over its charge to the panel.
“Women Helpline 181 handed over to DCW. Have very big plans for it. Soon it will be made most effective women’s helpline in country,” DCW chief Swati Maliwal tweeted.
So far, the helpline was under the Delhi government, but after the meetings in the last few weeks between the women and child development department and Ms Maliwal this decision was taken.
According to DCW sources, the helpline is likely to get a makeover under the commission which is planning to increase the staff and the number of outdoor and indoor volunteers.
Also, more offices are likely to be opened so that the complaints received on the helpline could be acted upon as soon as possible.
The move is significant in the backdrop of a tussle between the helpline staff and the AAP government.
Recently, the head of the women’s helpline had also protested outside the Delhi Secretariat alleging she was being harassed by officials in the WCD department after she raised the issue of financial irregularities.
The helpline was launched by the then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit after a 23- year- old physiotherapist was gangraped in a moving bus in December 2012. She died at a hospital in Singapore on December 29.
Between 2013 and 2015, the helpline received 12,75,000 calls and 6,66,000 cases were registered.