Special Task Force for women safety reconstituted

The L-G will be chairperson of the special task force and including him there will be 17 members in it.

A special task force (STF) for women safety has been reconstituted under the Chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal with his approval, the Delhi government’s Home Department said in a communication sent to the Delhi High Court on Friday.

The decision to reconstitute the task force was taken on January 17 pursuant to the High Court’s December 21, 2016 order. (HT Photo)

The L-G will be chairperson of the special task force and including him there will be 17 members in it. The task force will conduct a meeting in every 15 days. Welcoming the move, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal, who is also a member of the STF said, “I had recently raised the issue in a meeting taken by the new L-G. The DCW fought for the constitution of the STF for almost around a year. After repeated communications with the Home Ministry and L-G, finally, this has happened.”

Earlier, the special task force made under the leadership of Central Home Secretary was dissolved in 2016. The letter dated January 20 of the Home Department would be placed before the bench, which is hearing a PIL initiated on its own after the December 16, 2012 gangrape case. The court has been giving directions from time to time with regard to improving crime investigation and protection of women in Delhi.

The decision to reconstitute the task force was taken on January 17 pursuant to the High Court’s December 21, 2016 order asking the L-G’s office to apprise it whether any STF on women’s safety was in place in the Capital.

The direction regarding the STF was issued when on the last date of hearing, Maliwal expressed doubts over the existence of the task force, claiming that the L-G had not called a meeting with regard to the safety of women in the national capital in last one year.