Hyderabad: Everyday rapes and crimes against women make headlines in India. Be it the alleged gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in UP's Hathras or 27-year-old in Bihar's Buxar or minors allegedly raped in Rajasthan and MP. There is no end to it. Where does our country stand in terms of women safety? What has the government done to ensure women security in India? The answer is the Nirbhaya Fund. According to the data provided by the Women and Child Development Ministry, 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.
PURPOSE OF FUND
The Nirbhaya Fund was created to be utilised for projects specifically designed to improve the safety and security of women in public places. The key schemes under which the states have been allocated money include emergency response support system, central victim compensation fund, cybercrime prevention against women and children, one-stop centre scheme, Mahila police volunteers and universalisation of women helpline scheme.
The Nirbhaya fund was set up in 2013 by the UPA government to improve the safety and security of women in the aftermath of the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedic student in December, 2012 in a moving bus in Delhi. But unfortunately, not even 50 per cent of the total fund amount has been utilised by the states. You will be shocked to know that there are states and UTs where funds are lying unused.
PERFORMANCE OF STATES
Now, let's get a clear picture that which states have utilised the fund and which have lagged behind. Best performing states are Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland and Haryana.
Worst performing states are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
The utilisation certificates may not reflect the actual use of funds as there is a lag in the process but the low figures are not likely to change significantly in terms of the actual use of funds.
WHAT IS THE REAL PICTURE?
India recorded an average 87 rape cases every day in 2019 and 4,05,861 cases of crimes against women during the year -- a rise of over seven per cent from 2018 -- shows latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau.
A girl is raped every 16 minutes. The "Crimes in India -2019" report shows that crimes against women have gone up by 7.3 per cent last year.
Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh which has not used the Nirbhaya fund has topped in crime against women.
Maharashtra, where the funds lie unused, is the second most unsafe state for women.
And then comes Bengal, which has not used the allocated fund.
Despite increasing crime against women, why haven't these states used the fund? When will women safety be a priority in our country? The NCRB data shows us a clear picture that India lags behind in implementing the Nirbhaya fund. Protests, candle marches, social media outrage is not the solution. The central government and the state government need to come together to reduce such evils.
