#DELHI CONGRESS DEMANDS WITHDRAWAL OF THE #AAP GOVERNMENT’S ORDER TO CLOSE DOWN GENDER RESOURCE CENTRES

DELHI CONGRESS DEMANDS WITHDRAWAL OF THE AAP GOVERNMENT’S ORDER TO CLOSE DOWN GENDER RESOURCE CENTRES

NEW DELHI, May 30—The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee has strongly condemned the AAP Government’s decision to shut down the Gender Resource Centres (GRCs) from May 31, 2016, and demanded immediate withdrawal of the order, and allow the GRCs to function properly by giving them every support.

Addressing a press conference at the DPCC office, Rajiv Bhawan here today, chief spokesperson Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the GRCs were created for empowering women from the underprivileged background. She said the GRCs had been rendering valued services to the marginalized and the underprivileged sections of the society, as it was a flagship programme of the Congress Government in Delhi. Former Delhi Health Minister Smt. Kiran Walia and  Municipal Councillor Smt. Prerna Singh were also present.

Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the AAP Government’s claim that these centres are being shut down as they are not functioning properly was not correct, as the GRCs were rendering socially-relevant yeoman services. She said the anti-women AAP Government, which did not accommodate a single woman in its cabinet, is now killing projects to help and empower women. She asked the AAP Government to put the report, on the basis of which a decision has been taken to close down the GRCs, in the public domain

Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the AAP Government was deliberately and systematically destroying the socially-relevant schemes started by the Congress Government like the GRCs, by withholding salaries and financial support to these centres. She asked what would happen to the employees who would be rendered jobless? Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the closure of the GRCs would not only leave thousands of people jobless, but would also result in disservice and harassment to lakhs of beneficiaries as well as students enrolled in various vocational courses.

Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the GRCs were also being used by the Government in the past to facilitate common man’s access to social initiatives such as Aadhar card, Annashree card etc., thus catering to the needs of all members of the underprivileged sections of society, not just women.

Smt. Kiran Walia said the AAP Government’s decision to constitute 3000 Mohalla Sabhas was to replace the existing Residents’ Welfare Associations, started by the previous Congress Government, so that the money can be spent through the AAP workers and volunteers. Similarly, she said, the AAP Government started the Mohalla Clinics to replace the mobile clinics started by the Congress Government, and it also wound up the 181 dedicated helpline for women due to non-payment of salaries to the staff. Smt. Walia said it was ironic that the AAP Government, which cashed in on the Nirbhaya case to come to power, was now totally ignoring the issues of women and children.