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As a special relief measure, the Delhi Government will provide suitable jobs to 35 acid attack survivors. An order to this effect was passed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday.
A delegation of some of these women had met Mr. Kejriwal on March 16 with a request for employment.
“Depending on their qualifications, work experience and ability, jobs will be given to them. Some of them are visually impaired while others have mobility problems. Depending on their convenience, we will hire them,” said Swati Maliwal, advisor to the Chief Minister.
These women have been asked to submit their curriculum vitae to the Department of Services and they will be posted in suitable jobs on a priority basis. “Within two to three months, we hope to employ all of them,” she said.
Ms. Maliwal said besides these 35 survivors, others too can apply. “We got the list of 35 women, who received compensation, from the District Legal Service Authority. More acid attack survivors are welcome and they can submit their CVs.”
Ms. Shaheen, a survivor, said when they met Mr. Kejriwal he promised that something would be done. “For people like us, employment is a huge problem. People do charity, but nobody wants to employ us. For our survival and to bear the cost of treatment, we need regular income. We are very happy with the AAP government’s decision,” she added.
Working with an NGO, Ms. Shaheen will get a job along with three other members from her organisation. Apart from employment, these survivors had asked for easy treatment in hospitals, expediting cases pending in fast-track courts and proper implementation of the acid sale ban.
“Despite the Supreme Court order, hospitals don’t admit us easily. There have been instances where patients were given bills amounting to Rs.20 lakh for surgeries done in private hospitals,” she said.
Now, the survivors are hopeful that along with jobs, even their other requests would be looked into and “life will be slightly better”.
