How is there a dearth of meaningful schemesIJ
Three years after the Nirbhaya Fund was set up to improve women's safety nationwide, it is disappointing that the several thousand crores of rupees allocated to the fund are lying idle because of a lack of ideas on how to effectively utilise the money. This is not just because tax-payer money is being wasted at a time of scarce resources, but more so because the fund has a sentimental value for the country. Set up after the December 2012 Delhi gang rape case, which shocked the national conscience and forced the state into action, the Nirbhaya Fund was not just another Government scheme — it was a collective acknowledgement that no society is fully civilised when one-half of its population is at risk, and equally an embodiment of the nation's commitment to making India a better place for women. Once the symbol of hope and change, the Nirbhaya Fund should not become a case of missed opportunity, even as crimes against women continue unabated. The fund was established by the UPA regime which, however, did little else apart from putting some money into the kitty. The NDA regime, which succeeded the UPA, has been grappling with the issue of effective utilisation. The corpus of the fund has grown from `1,000 crore to `3,000 crore, but these figures are meaningless if the money isn't fully put to use. In the last three years, a measly `23 crore from the Nirbhaya fund has been utilised to set up 36 rape crises centres in all States and Union Territories — and here too just three centres have been operationalised. Also, the three big projects proposed by three different Union Ministries are all stuck at different points in the pipeline. The Ministry of Home Affairs's proposal to integrate police administration with the mobile phone network so as to quickly trace and respond to distress calls hasn't progressed from the drawing board. This project was to be implemented in association with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which was to order all mobile phone manufacturers to introduce an SOS button in all handsets. Two pilot projects were launched — one at the Jaipur Police Control Room wherein an Electronic Personal Safety System is being tested, and another at IIT Delhi, where a personal security device in the form of a wrist watch is being developed — but that's about it. There have also been reports of some confusion between various ministries. The proposal by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to make public transport safer for women by fitting public vehicles with global position systems and CCTVs, and other measures, have been gathering dust.
Similarly, the Ministry of Railways' proposal to have an SOS alert system in trains in select zones is yet to be implemented fully. A pilot project was awarded to the Centre for Railway Information Systems in October 2013. It was to be completed in 13 months for Central Railway and Western Railway, but progress has been minimal. More recently, the Government decided to use some of the Nirbhaya funds to pay compensation to women who have been victims of gender crimes such rapes, acid attacks etc. It’s time for the Union Government to make the Nirbhaya Fund the success it deserves to be.