"The reason for the shortage is that earlier governments were not interested in filling up vacancies. They were only interested in making costly purchases and even if they were done, it was not transparent and thus landed into legal battle," said Rita Bahuguna Joshi, minister for women and child welfare
"The reason for the shortage is that earlier governments were not interested in filling up vacancies. They were only interested in making costly purchases and even if they were done, it was not transparent and thus landed into legal battle," said Rita Bahuguna Joshi, minister for women and child welfare
While the UP government cracked down against shelter homes after sexual harassment cases were reported from in Deoria, there is another pressing concern: 38 districts do not have a full-time district probation officer (DPO). The DPO is an important link for implementation and supervision of government schemes related to the women and child welfare department - from the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme, widow pension scheme to shelters meant for girls, women and old age women.
There are 76 DPO posts sanctioned in the state - one for each district and one more at the headquarters. Sources inform that while half the posts (38) are to be filled through direct recruitment, the remaining are filled through promotion.
At the moment, the 38 districts have DPOs that are officiated by district officials of other departments like divyang kalyan, minority welfare and youth welfare, and, in some cases, even “case workers”, primarily responsible for maintaining data for the department at the districts.
In fact, in the case of Deoria, it had four DPOs during separate periods in the last one year - Abhishek Pandey held the position was suspended after the cases came to light; his successors Neeraj Kumar and Anoop Singh, who now face departmental inquiry, held the charge of district minority welfare officer and divyang welfare officer, respectively. There has been no action against incumbent DPO Prabhat Kumar.
“It (vacancies) is just out of neglect,” said one DPO who wished to be anonymous. “The selection is done through Uttar Pradesh State Public Service Commission (UPPSC) and the pay scale is also good so there is no question of people not wanting to join. When officials from other departments are given the additional charge of DPO, there will be neglect. For them, their own schemes and their own projects are priority; they are not even directly accountable.”
The scenario is apparently not new. Sources in the women and child welfare department say that this has been so for the past many years and that in the last two years, a large number of DPOs were promoted but there weren’t enough to replace them.
“A request has been sent to the UPPSC for recruiting more DPOs,” said Deputy Chief Probation Officer at the headquarters, Punit Mishra. “We had asked for the commission to recruit for 23 posts last year. Some of those who were selected in 2016 had joined in 2017 but some more posts became vacant then.”
“It is in the pipeline,” said Rita Bahuguna Joshi, minister for women and child welfare. “All these posts would be filled through UP Subordinates Service Commission. The reason for the shortage is that earlier governments were not interested in filling up vacancies. They were only interested in making costly purchases and even if they were done, it was not transparent and thus landed into legal battle. We will be transparent.” Meanwhile, she informed that six children from Deoria Shelter Home, have been shifted to shelter home in Lucknow.
While the UP government cracked down against shelter homes after sexual harassment cases were reported from in Deoria, there is another pressing concern: 38 districts do not have a full-time district probation officer (DPO). The DPO is an important link for implementation and supervision of government schemes related to the women and child welfare department - from the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme, widow pension scheme to shelters meant for girls, women and old age women.
There are 76 DPO posts sanctioned in the state - one for each district and one more at the headquarters. Sources inform that while half the posts (38) are to be filled through direct recruitment, the remaining are filled through promotion.
At the moment, the 38 districts have DPOs that are officiated by district officials of other departments like divyang kalyan, minority welfare and youth welfare, and, in some cases, even “case workers”, primarily responsible for maintaining data for the department at the districts.
In fact, in the case of Deoria, it had four DPOs during separate periods in the last one year - Abhishek Pandey held the position was suspended after the cases came to light; his successors Neeraj Kumar and Anoop Singh, who now face departmental inquiry, held the charge of district minority welfare officer and divyang welfare officer, respectively. There has been no action against incumbent DPO Prabhat Kumar.
“It (vacancies) is just out of neglect,” said one DPO who wished to be anonymous. “The selection is done through Uttar Pradesh State Public Service Commission (UPPSC) and the pay scale is also good so there is no question of people not wanting to join. When officials from other departments are given the additional charge of DPO, there will be neglect. For them, their own schemes and their own projects are priority; they are not even directly accountable.”
The scenario is apparently not new. Sources in the women and child welfare department say that this has been so for the past many years and that in the last two years, a large number of DPOs were promoted but there weren’t enough to replace them.
“A request has been sent to the UPPSC for recruiting more DPOs,” said Deputy Chief Probation Officer at the headquarters, Punit Mishra. “We had asked for the commission to recruit for 23 posts last year. Some of those who were selected in 2016 had joined in 2017 but some more posts became vacant then.”
“It is in the pipeline,” said Rita Bahuguna Joshi, minister for women and child welfare. “All these posts would be filled through UP Subordinates Service Commission. The reason for the shortage is that earlier governments were not interested in filling up vacancies. They were only interested in making costly purchases and even if they were done, it was not transparent and thus landed into legal battle. We will be transparent.” Meanwhile, she informed that six children from Deoria Shelter Home, have been shifted to shelter home in Lucknow.