Women's press body elects office bearers under the shadow of eviction

New Delhi: The Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) is all set to elect its new office bearers amidst the threat to vacate its bungalow situated at 5 Windsor Place.

The government on Monday issued a vacation cum recovery notice to IWPC to pay Rs 18 lakh as "damages for unauthorised occupation" of a bungalow previously allotted to it and to vacate the facility at the earliest, failing which eviction proceedings will be initiated.

A letter issued by the directorate of estates to the IWPC's president stated that the bungalow at Windsor Place in Lutyens' Delhi has still not been vacated despite the fact that the women's journalist body was asked to leave the government facility by July 31, 2022.

"I am directed to refer to this directorate letter dated 04.05.2022 on the above-mentioned subject whereby it was requested to find a suitable accommodation and arrange to vacate the aforesaid house on or before 31 July 2022. However, the house has not been vacated by you till date," Pinaki Banerjee, deputy director of the directorate of estates wrote to the IWPC president.

The letter also said that a total of Rs 18,88,333 is payable as damages for unauthorised occupation of the house from August 1, 2022 to April 10, 2023.

"It is requested to pay the damages and vacate the house at the earliest failing which eviction proceedings shall be initiated against you under the Public Premises (Eviction of unauthorised occupants) Act, 1971," it also stated.

The eviction notice has become the issue in the upcoming elections of the IWPC’s office bearers.

Senior Journalist Richa Anirudh, who is contesting for managing committe member, posted a video on her Twitter handle highlighting the key issue of vacating the bungalow alloted to IWPC.

In her video, Anirudh claimed that the recent government's directive of paying uncleared dues was the biggest and major issue for the IWPC's members' survival and future.

She pitched to make IWPC highly creative, productive, and vibrant for its members and urged voters to vote for the panel of Pallavi Ghosh and Sunita Vakil.

Requesting all women journalists who are also members of the @iwpcdelhi .. pls come and vote on 15th April! Vote for @_pallavighosh @sunitavakil panel pic.twitter.com/8DbXu31Coi

— richa anirudh (@richaanirudh) April 13, 2023

On the other hand, an office-bearer of the IWPC said that they have not received any letter from the directorate of estates which comes under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

In August 2022, the government issued an eviction notice to IWPC and asked it to pay its outstanding dues.

According to the notice, the allotment had been made to IWPC on May 13, 1994, and it had been cancelled with effect from January 6, 2021, following the expiry of tenure.

The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) is India’s first association of women journalists. The Corps now has a membership of more than 800 journalists including reporters, editors, producers, anchors and camerapersons from across print, TV, and Web. it was founded in 1994 by 18 women journalists who have worked for more than a decade in newsrooms realised the critical need for a support group for women scribes to help them meet challenges exclusive to their ilk.