Unpaid wages at DCW threaten to revive survivors’ woes

New Delhi: After a man threw acid on Shaina (34), a schoolteacher, in 2009 for rejecting his marriage proposal, it took her almost seven years to get better and start working again.
“After the attack, I could not go back to school. I had no hopes that I would be able to go back to work with my burnt marks,” she said, adding that the toll the injury took on her health was telling.
“In 2017, another acid attack survivor told me that there was a vacancy at Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and they employ acid attack survivors.I quickly applied and fortunately got the job,” Shaina said.
She said working at the commission changed her life. “I was working with fellow survivors and that made me feel more seen.”
After nearly seven years at the commission, Shaina again has similar fears in life. For the last nine months, Shaina has not got her salary. “Now I am in a limbo. Neither can I leave my job and look for a new job, nor can I continue to work for DCW.”
The commission has not paid its staff salaries for nearly nine months, making it difficult for them to make ends meet. Several women who work in DCW are acid attack and domestic violence survivors. When asked about why the salaries were not paid, no response was given by AAP govt for this article.
For Shabnam (29), another acid attack survivor and a counsellor at the commission, said: “Earlier, the maximum delay in getting the salary) was three months. But this time, it has been more than nine months and I have not received my salary.”
Shabnam, who lives in a rented house, is finding it hard to pay her rent. “I do not come from a well-to-do family. I am the elder one in the house, and also the sole earner. For me, working was extremely important, and after the attack, my life became more difficult,” she said.
Shabnam, who works as a counsellor at the DCW’s mahila panchayat branch, sobbed as she showed her broken slippers. “In the last many months, I have tried to get loans from almost all the people I know. I don’t even have money to buy a new chappal for myself. Every day, after work, I have to walk back home from the bus stop as I can’t even afford to take a rickshaw,” she said.
Another acid attack survivor, Ashiya (36), has been working for the last several years as a junior staffer. “After the attack, most of my family's savings went into paying for my multiple surgeries. After my parents’ death, I moved to a rented house and tried to look for menial jobs and subsequently was employed at DCW. I was getting around Rs 12,000 monthly. I could at least pay the expenses of my medical treatment. But, for the last several months, I have not received any salary, making it difficult for me to pay my rent and medical bills,” she added.