Maliwal-led DCW handled thrice as many cases as under ex chief: report

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women dealt with over 11,000 complaints in the last one year, which is three times the cases it handled under the former chief the preceding year, according to a report.

The annual report of the DCW for the year 2015-16, which was released here on Tuesday, said the women's panel dealt with 11,268 complaints from August 2015 to July 2016, while the number of complaints it handled from July 2014 to July 2015 was 3,498.

"In a span of seven months since February this year, the commission handled over 2.21 lakh calls on 181 women helpline and took suo motu action in 208 cases," the report said.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal, who has been at loggerheads with her predecessor Barkha Shukla Singh, has cited the figures in the past too to draw parallels between the work done during the tenures of the two.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who was present at the report launch, said, "We often take exception to the reference of Delhi as a rape capital, but we should not shy away from accepting that. There is a need not for changing the image of the city but the mindset which leads to such crimes."

Union Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi also stressed the need for changing people's behaviour and working towards making the city safe for women.

"From January 1, all mobile handsets will have a panic button which the user can press in emergency. Not only it will send a message to the nearest police station but also 10 other people who are in the proximity. For the mobile handsets which have been in market before that, we are trying to set up few centres where the arrangements can be made," she said.

The report said the commission has made 55 policy recommendations to the government during the period, while the previous team had made only one recommendation.