New Delhi, March 12 (HS): The government has spent approximately 76 percent of the Nirbhaya Fund to enhance women’s safety. This information was provided by Savitri Thakur, Minister of State for Women and Child Development, in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. She informed the house that more than 14,658 women help desks have been set up across the country to ensure women’s safety.
Cyber forensic training laboratories have been established in 33 states and union territories, and 24,264 individuals have been trained to deal with cyber-related crimes. Savitri Thakur reported that under the Nirbhaya Fund, a total of ₹7,712.85 crore has been allocated for the financial year 2024-25. The total amount utilized from the Nirbhaya Fund by ministries and departments is ₹5,846.08 crore, which is approximately 76 percent of the total allocation. To ensure that women and young girls who are victims of heinous sexual crimes receive justice, the government has been providing financial assistance to states and union territories to establish Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) since 2019.
The government has approved 790 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) to date. Among them, 404 courts include specific POCSO (e-POCSO) courts, with a total of 745 courts operating in 30 states and union territories, which have disposed of over 306,000 cases related to rape and offenses under the POCSO Act. To support and supplement state compensation schemes under the Nirbhaya Fund, ₹200 crore has been released to state governments and union territories as a one-time grant under the Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) to provide compensation to victims of various crimes, especially sexual offenses including rape, acid attacks, crimes against children, human trafficking, etc.
She stated that to ensure the safety of public places where women work and live, sub-projects under the Safe Cities project have been implemented in 8 cities (namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Mumbai). To ensure safe transportation for women, rail and road transport projects such as the Integrated Emergency Response Management System (IERMS) and video surveillance systems on Konkan Railway, as well as an AI-based Facial Recognition System (FRS) integrated with the video surveillance system, have been implemented.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
