NEW DELHI: A day after the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued notice to Delhi Police seeking to know whether any police station had a woman station house officer (SHO), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrote to panel’s chairman Swati Maliwal urging her to find out reasons for a woman not being appointed as a minister in Delhi cabinet.
Delhi BJP vice-president Virendra Sachdeva, in his letter to Maliwal, said her attempt to ensure ‘equality’ and ‘enhance participation of women’ in the police force is commendable and explanation should also be sought from the Kejriwal government for the absence of a woman minister in the national capital.
“In the 70-member House, there are eight woman MLAs. In the past, former chief ministers Susham Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit, and women MLAs were part of the cabinet. In all governments from 1993 to 2015, the cabinet comprised one woman minister. Departing from the practice, CM Kejriwal has not appointed any woman minister in the last six years,” said the BJP leader.
Taking suo moto cognizance of media reports, the DCW has sought details of women officers posted as SHOs in the past one year. The commission should also issue a similar notice to Kejriwal and ask him to send an explanation, said Sachdeva.