Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has ordered a special audit into allegations of misuse of government funds in the functioning of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR). The DCPCR, which is the Delhi government’s statutory watchdog on matters of child rights, including the protection of children from exploitation, abuse, labour, trafficking, violence and sexual offences among others, will not receive additional funds till the completion of the audit and an inquiry by the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), L-G House officials said. The Delhi government did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
“DCPCR, functioning under the administrative control of the Department of Women & Child Development has not been adhering to provisions envisaged in the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 and DCPCR Rules, 2008, General Finance Rules (GFR),” an official alleged, referring to reports by the DWCD and the vigilance department.
“While processing the allocation of budget for DCPCR for the Revised Estimates and Budget Estimates for the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively, it was noticed by the DWCD that the demand has increased exponentially from a mere Rs 2 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 15.20 crore in the current financial year,” the official said further.
According to the L-G House, the Commission was also found to be incurring expenditure and engaging itself in activities “beyond its mandate and scope of work”, particularly in the case of central government schemes such as Integrated Child Development Schemes (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) and POSHAN Abhiyan. L-G House officials said the WCD department found that the salary components in the DCPCR had increased from Rs 17 lakh in 2017-18 to Rs 2 crore in the current financial year since “several consultants were hired” and the salaries of the chairperson and members were increased without following laid-down procedures, such as the L-G’s approval.
“The WCD department accordingly proposed that an inquiry may be instituted in the matter and a special audit should be undertaken about the misuse of government funds before any further request for allocation of funds is entertained,” the official said. The matter was then examined by the Directorate of Vigilance, which found irregularities including “not replying properly” to audit-related queries, incurring expenditures, engaging itself in activities beyond its mandate and scope of work, particularly in central government schemes, not submitting utilisation details to the administrative department as per DCPCR Rules, 2008 etc. According to officials, the Commission was also found to have made appointments of “politically affiliated” individuals which were then raised by the vigilance department with the WCD department.
