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Alarmed by the rising incidents of violence against women both in the national capital Delhi and also elsewhere in the country, the Planning Commission has started engaging with state governments to bring down incidents of crime against women.
The Commission, in its yearly meeting with the Chief Ministers of all states to finalise their annual plan, is laying special emphasis on crime against women and also on measures that must be taken by the state governments to bring down such incidents.
Such annual meetings are usually held to finalise the plan size of the state and also to fix its priority development sectors be it health, educations, infrastructure etc.
Officials said the Commission wants the state government to play a pro-active role in mitigating incidents of crime against women because of which it has incorporated a new chapter on the same in its discussion papers.
In its recent meeting with Haryana chief minister Bhupender Singh Hooda, the Commission is believed to have raised the issue of domination of khap pachayats in the state and how its strict rules restricts the development and empowerment of women. Haryana recorded around 5,491 incidents of crime against women in 2011 as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), one of the highest in the country.
Officials said similar points have also been raised with Chief Ministers of Jharkhand, Punjab etc and will be done with all other state chief ministers as well.
The issue of safety and security of women came to the forefront following the brutal gang-rape of a young girl in a moving bus in Delhi few months back. The incident caused widespread anger and discontent among the citizens, particularly the youth.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his speech at the 57th National Development Council Meeting held in December last year had urged both the Central government and states to reflect on the problem (of crime against women) and place greater attention to it.
“There can be no meaningful development without the active participation of half the population and this participation simply cannot take place if their security and safety are not assured,” the Prime Minister had said in his speech.
The Commission, too, in its 12th five-year plan document devoted a full chapter on women and child rights.
It said the addressing the violence against women both in the public and private sphere is a big challenge and had also expressed its dismay over the low conviction rate in most such incidents. As per the Commission, between 2006 and 2010, incidents of crime against women rose by 29.6%.
| Year | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
| Incidents of Crime against women | 2,28,650 | 2,13,585 | 2,03,804 | 1,95,856 | 1,85,312 | 1,64,765 |
Source: National Crime Records Bureau
