Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Union Minister for Women & Child Development, speaks to Karan Bhardwaj about setting up rape crisis centres and curbing trafficking at railway stations
How will the new scheme of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao help improve condition of women in IndiaIJ
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is a much larger programme than simply saving a girl child. Some 2,000 girls are killed in the womb almost everyday. The main reason is people’s psyche that is embroiled in an old age adage — beti paraya dhan hain (a daughter is someone else’s asset held in trust.) So even if she is being killed, that doesn’t account for the biggest problem in life for most people. In order to change that, we have to change people’s attitude and tell them that daughters belong to them as much as a son. Second, we have to get totally rid of the dowry system. The moment a girl is born, the family starts thinking about dowry. That has to go. The third objective is women’s safety. These are some of the areas that we need to work on. Under this programme, we have taken up 100 worst districts. District magistrate of respective districts have been put at the centre of functions. They have to work out a programme with our help. There will be a combination of media, where we have to make women heroes in every reporting against dowry, abortion and molestation.
If we succeed in these programmes, we will be able to change the attitude. For that, we are already coordinating with local media and sending vans to every village. Once institutional deliveries actually become a reality, we will be able to exercise some control over the problem.
What about violence against womenIJ What is your ministry doing on that frontIJ
The basic challenge before us is that we need to make our women feel strong and empowered so that they can fight for their own rights as well as safety. We are working on a number of directives for this. First, we are setting up one stop crisis centres in each of the States. To begin with, one such centre will be established in each of the state and very soon we will be expanding it to one centre per district. This centre will provide legal, medical, psychological and social police assistance to any woman who is suffering violence or is fearing violence in the form of stalking. These centres are also being linked to a dedicated women’s helpline which is being developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs. This scheme is being fully funded through the Nirbhaya Fund. Once, these centres are in place, they will become symbols of women empowerment.
Second, we have sought approval of the cabinet to the amendment of National Commission of Women Act so as to hugely strengthen the commission. We feel that until the commission is given sufficient powers including the power to summon, search and impose fine, it will not be possible to make a difference to conditions of those women who approach the commission for assistance.
We have also requested all the state governments to reserve 33 per cent of posts in police organisations for women. So far, only Gujarat has made this provision. I strongly feel that having one-third of the police officials as women will on the one hand automatically sensitise the entire police force on issues related to women as well as send a strong sense of security to women in the country and they will no longer be hesitant to approach the police in the event of any incidence.
I have also propounded a new concept to the home ministry of appointment of young girls as special police officers (SPOs) to serve as a bridge between the community and regular police stations. I have offered to work in partnership with home ministry to develop standard operating procedures for the appointment of all the SPOs. Once accepted, we will like to create this institution in all states, especially because the SPOs work on an honorary basis and there will practically be no expenditure involved.
Children remain the most vulnerable section of our society and trafficking is a major concern. What is your ministry doing on this frontIJ
We have discovered that about four to five lakh children pass through railways every year and these children are either runaway or kidnapped or trafficked. In fact, railways happen to be the most frequently used mode of transportation of such children. We have been working closely with the ministry of railways and have launched a major initiative to provide safety and protection of these children. We have developed a standard operating procedure to identify, rescue, restore and rehabilitate these children. To begin with, this scheme has been launched at 20 major railway stations where NGOs identified by the Ministry of Women and Child Development will take the responsibility of these children. They will be closely working with the railway stations authorities as well as railway police officials for this purpose. We are also directing to put signages at the railway stations as well as in the train coaches and regularly make announcements so that all passengers can also assist in this initiative. The number of railway stations will be expanded as and when we are able to identify more NGOs for the new stations. We will also provide a dedicated toll-free telephone line (1098) which will be established in all telephone modes to report the presence of such children who need care and protection within the railways. We are also providing such telephone booths which are child friendly so that children can themselves also call and seek help in case of any emergency.
Tackling malnutrition is one of the major schemes of your ministry. Are you looking at any new approach to tackle this problemIJ
We have a 40-year-old programme called ICDS where we provide supplementary nutrition to children below six years as well as pregnant and lactating mothers. Despite the fact that this scheme is universally available, the figures of mal-nutrition continues to be a cause of very serious concern with the government. I have done some new thinking on this issue and we have developed the contours of a new national mission of malnutrition.
The problem of malnutrition in children actually starts much before their birth. Under the new mission, we will create a system for identifying pregnant women as well as malnutritioned or under-nutritioned children. Once identified, they will be provided supplementary nutritional services as well as the facility of regular check-ups through the Anganwadis. We will be using technology to do a real-time monitoring of these women and children and also maintain a centralised database. Through this mission, we expect an ongoing reduction of instances of malnutrition in the years to come.