NEW DELHI: After remaining headless for more than two years, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has finally got a chairperson—albeit on officiating terms—just three days before the Delhi High Court’s deadline expired.
The Delhi government has appointed IAS officer Rashmi Singh, who also serves as Secretary, Women and Child Development (WCD), as the officiating chairperson of the commission, which has been lying defunct since July 2023.
The move comes after repeated censure from the High Court, which has been monitoring the matter closely in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the National Child Development Council. The PIL highlighted that since the tenure of former chairperson Anurag Kundu ended on July 2, 2023, the commission’s crucial statutory functions—including child rights monitoring, school safety oversight and juvenile welfare had been severely affected. In May 2024, the HC issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government, and DCPCR seeking an explanation for the prolonged vacancies.
The court noted that the proposal to invite applications for the posts had been pending since August 2023 and that advertisements could not be issued earlier due to the Model Code of Conduct at that time. During the July hearing, the Delhi government’s counsel informed the bench that the chief minister, who also holds the WCD portfolio, had decided to expand the pool of candidates beyond the earlier shortlist of 927 applicants by reissuing the advertisement.
Taking note of the assurance, the High Court granted the government three more months, in July, to make the commission functional and scheduled the next hearing for November to review progress. The bench had earlier pulled up the government for its “callousness” and said the prolonged delay was causing “rights of children to take a back seat.”
One of the advocates handling the case, Rachna Tyagi, had earlier told this newspaper, “There were similar cases regarding the Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board, which had a lot of vacancies, but after the HC directions, some vacancies have been filled. But the DCPCR has failed to fill any vacancies. There are 5–7 posts which have been lying vacant for over two years now, and only one additional secretary is there who is also given an additional charge.”
The officiating appointment of Rashmi Singh may help the commission resume basic functions; however, several key posts, including those of members, remain vacant.
