Women as sub-registrars in Delhi: RWAs welcome move, but say it's too early to gauge impact on corruption

New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Delhi on Tuesday welcomed the recent announcement that the national capital will have women sub-registrars, saying the move will empower women.

However, the RWAs are sceptical about whether the decision would be able to curb the menace of corruption, saying it is too early to comment on that.

"It is a welcoming move that will help in the empowerment of women. It will promote gender equality. It is a strategic move. It will change the way the society sees women," said Atul Goyal, the president of the United Residents Joint Action (URJA), a confederation of 2,500 RWAs in Delhi.

Goyal, however, questioned whether the decision would have any impact on the menace of corruption.

"I don't know how will it impact corruption. It will depend on how it pans out. Corruption is not a gender-based thing," he added.

Lt Governor V K Saxena has directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to appoint only women sub-registrars involved in dealing with common people.

The move would mean that for the first time, all 22 Sub-Registrars (SRs) in Delhi government's Revenue Department will be women officers.

In an official statement, the LG office said that it is expected that with women officers at the helm, the "prevalent corruption, red-tapism and harassment of people at such offices will be mitigated".

North Delhi Residents Welfare Federation president Ashok Bhasin said that including women as sub-registrars is a welcome move, but corruption cannot be rooted out via this process.

"It is a good move. It will help in the empowerment of women but I believe that corruption cannot be rooted out this way. We need to make reforms in the entire system," Bhasin said.

Echoing similar sentiments, joint front president of east Delhi RWAs B S Vohra said it will promote the empowerment of women and will bring women to the forefront. "This is a good move and will promote the empowerment of women. I am not sure how it will impact corruption. Only time will tell how it is going to impact the level of corruption in the capital," Vohra said.

The LG office said the sub-registrar offices are at the cutting edge of government's interface with the common citizens.

After assuming office, Saxena, with an aim of empowering women in government services by placing them in positions of importance, had envisaged that the sub-registrar offices of the Delhi government's Revenue Department be headed by women officials.

Through an earlier order, six women SRs had been appointed, in the latest order issued on Monday, another 16 women officials have been selected and appointed as SRs in the remaining 16 SR offices, thereby taking the total number to 22.

Earlier, the chief secretary, following Saxena's directions, had also appointed a woman Officer on Special Duty (OSD) on October 8 for developing an 'e-platform' to ensure that all SR offices become faceless and the services be provided to the people through the online mode.

(The above article is sourced from news agency PTI. Zeenews.com has made no editorial changes to the article. News agency PTI is solely responsible for the contents of the article)

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