Swati Maliwal (born 15 October 1984) is an Indian activist. She is the current Chairperson of
Delhi Commission for Women. Before joining DCW, Maliwal worked as the advisor to the Chief Minister of Delhi on public grievances.
Maliwal was a core member of the Indian Against Corruption movement led by social activist
Anna Hazare
Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising an ...
and
Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal (Hindi: �ɾʋin̪d̪ ked͡ʒɾiːʋaːl born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, former bureaucrat, and activist who is the 7th and current Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. Currently, he is the national co ...
. After the formation of the Arvind Kejriwal government in 2015, Maliwal was appointed the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women.
Personal life
Maliwal was born in
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh
Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Mu ...
on 15 October 1984.
She went to
Amity International School
Amity International Schools is a 5-Pvt. Unaided (Recognized) 3-Co-educational are schools located in New Delhi, India, National Capital Region (NCR Delhi), and Lucknow. These schools are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (C ...
and then received a bachelor's degree in Information Technology from the
JSS Academy of Technical Education.
She got a job at an MNC and left it to join an NGO called "Parivartan". Maliwal was married to
Aam Aadmi Party leader Naveen Jaihind. They divorced in February 2020.
Political career
Maliwal started her first term as Chairperson of
Delhi Commission for Women in July 2015.
At the time, she was the
Aam Aadmi Party leader.
Her tenure in the position was extended another three years in July 2018. She is the youngest person to hold the role of commissioner for women.
In 2018, she went on a 10-day
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
which started on 13 April.
She had several demands, including the passage of an ordinance requiring the death penalty for individuals who rape children under age 12, recruiting police under United Nations standards and demanding accountability of the police.
Maliwal published an open letter to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the List of Prime Ministers of India, 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the List of chief ministers of Gujarat, Chief Minist ...
.
Her strike took place during a series of protests surrounding two alleged rapes of girls ages 16 and 8.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maliwal, Swati
Living people
1984 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
Indian women activists
Indian anti-corruption activists
Indian women's rights activists
People from Ghaziabad district, India
Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Delhi