Delhi LG approves audit of DCPCR funding

The DCPCR said they have followed procedure and have taken the necessary approvals from the Delhi cabinet

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena has approved a proposal by the women and child development (WCD) department to initiate an inquiry and order a special audit into allegations of misuse of government funds in the functioning of the Delhi commission for protection of child rights (DCPCR), officials in the LG office said.

Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena

Officials in the LG office said that according to the WCD department, the salary components in DCPCR increased from ₹17 lakh in 2017-18 to ₹2 crore in the current fiscal, several consultants were hired, and the salary of the chairperson and members was increased without approval of the LG.

The officials said that DCPCR has not adhered to provisions envisaged in the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 and DCPCR Rules, 2008, incurring expenditures beyond its scope. They said the LG has directed that no further request for allocation of funds by DCPCR will be entertained before the completion of the inquiry and special audit.

The DCPCR, meanwhile, has said that they have followed procedure and have taken the necessary approvals from the Delhi cabinet.

A DCPCR official, on condition of anonymity, said, “We are an autonomous body and we get our funds from and submit our reports to the Delhi cabinet… multiple audits take place, and we are clear from our end. These are just allegations; everybody can see the work that we have done in the past few years.”

A Delhi government official called allegations “witch-hunting of responsible and highly accomplished departments of the Delhi Government”.

The LG has stopped the allocation of funds to the department, which will jeopardise the future of children who are already being exploited. DCPCR is a highly accomplished department which has been notoriously working towards the rights of the children. To cite a few examples, in the last two years, the DCPCR has liberated more than 800 children from child labour.  It has been instrumental in ensuring early childhood care, development, and education through anganwadis, immunization, and combating malnutrition,” said the official, requesting anonymity.