Even as the Government has set up a task force to recommend the way forward for utilisation of the Rs 1,000-crore Nirbhaya fund corpus, Women & Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath has shot off a second letter to the PMO, demanding those funds in its kitty.
The move indicates her apprehension about other Ministries too staking claim to the fund. Tirath herself heads the task force, which has a two-month timeframe to come up with its suggestive roadmap.
The fund announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the general Budget in memory of the December 16 Delhi gang-rape victim hasn’t been allotted to any Ministry yet. The corpus is aimed at strengthening the security system for protection of women.
Barely two months after writing to the Prime Minister’s Office to make a case for her Ministry’s claim over the fund, Tirath has yet again nudged the PMO, Finance Ministry and Planning Commission to make her Ministry the nodal agency.
“WCD being the nodal ministry for women, it would be appropriate if the task of coordination between other Ministries — who may have a role on the subject — is entrusted to this Ministry with reference to developing a detailed plan for operationalisation of the Nirbhaya fund,” Tirath stated in her letter, dated May 1.
“I propose to create a task force comprising of key Ministries and other experts who can design the details of the structure, scope and application of the fund, recommend a national strategy to end violence against girls and women and develop various deliverables and operational guidelines for the utilisation of the Nirbhaya fund,” wrote Tirath.
However, Tirath denied making any extra efforts to stake claim to the Nirbhaya corpus. “From the very outset, it was ours. At the time of the Budget, it was decided that the funds would come to us so there is no point of asking anyone for funds,” she said.
The WCD Ministry has announced a task force to develop a strategy to look into the optimum utilisation of the funds last week. Headed by Tirath herself, other members of the committee include Justice leila Seth, former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, former Home Secretary GK Pillai, Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising and National Advisory Council (NAC) member Aruna Roy and 15 more members.
“We set up the task force last week and they are expected to give us a plan of execution of funds within two months,” said a senior Ministry official.