Nirbhaya Fund

The gap between allocation and actual spending by the ministry of women and child development on empowerment and protection of women has been rising for the last six years

A total of 1,023 fast-track courts are financially supported under the Nirbhaya Fund to provide assistance to victims of sexual abuse, Union Minister Smriti Irani said

The Delhi Police has been allocated Rs 8,644.12 crore in the Union Budget for financial year 2021-22, even as around Rs 10 crore has been set aside for Nirbhaya Fund. According to a police statement, out of the total budget, Rs 8,100.20 crore has been embarked for establishment-related expenditure. A sum of Rs 237.92 crore shall be incurred for upgradation and expansion of communication infrastructure, modernisation of equipment, installation of traffic signals, upgradation of training and procurement of vehicles for policing. It also stated that Rs 306 crore shall be spent exclusively for police infrastructure for construction of office buildings, residential buildings and development of new police headquarters building. A total of Rs 10.14 crore has been allocated separately under the scheme for safety of women (financed from Nirbhaya Fund) in addition to the allocation for construction of building for SPUWAC (Special Police Unit for Women and Children) or SPUNER (Special Police .

The high-profile rape cases in Hathras, Unnao (2018) and Kathua (2018) show that the infrastructure slated under this fund is either absent or inefficient

The Centre has released an amount of over Rs 3,024 crore under the Nirbhaya fund out of which states have utilised around Rs 1,919 crore, the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Friday

Under the scheme, a helpline with a common number across the country, specifically for women, will link with the OSCs to provide aid to women in distress.

The minister added that anti-trafficking units to protect women and children have also been funded

Six states and UTs - Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura and Daman & Diu - have not spent a single rupee from the fund allocated by the Centre

In India, rape as an issue remains hostage to social and political contestations that ricochet between high-profile righteous indignation and spurious Bollywood-style anguish

The ministry has sanctioned a sum Rs 100 crore from the Nirbhaya fund for setting up and strengthening of the women help desks in police stations, the statement said

The non-lapsable corpus fund was instituted following gang-rape of a girl in Delhi in 2012, which triggered a nation-wide outrage and protests

Delhi has been sanctioned Rs 6.63 billion for using latest technologies

Sought responses within four weeks on receipt and disbursal of funds, rued the fact that they do not respond

Nirbhaya Fund was announced to protect the dignity and ensuring safety of women

Ministry has approved projects worth nearly Rs 2,200 cr, of which Rs 1,530 cr has been disbursed

The fund was set up following an announcement in the 2013 Union Budget after the brutal gangrape of a Delhi girl

The court's observation came as amicus curiae Indira Jaisinh drew the attention on the lack of uniformity in the victim compensation scheme