Protests over the Nirbhaya gang-rape spurred changes in law and a government fund for women's safety.
New Delhi:
A parliamentary standing committee has criticised the government for what it calls slow implementation of schemes under the Nirbhaya fund, named after the 23-year-old medical student who died after being gang-raped and tortured on a moving bus in Delhi four years ago.
The Women and Child Development Ministry has been asked to act "with a sense of urgency" by the Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, which cited the "ever increasing crimes against women on a daily basis across the country".
"The pace of implementation of the schemes envisaged under the Nirbhaya Fund is going at a very slow rate. Incidents of violence against women are increasing with every passing minute and the funds meant to tackle this problem remain idle," the committee commented.
"No concrete steps have been taken up by the authorities concerned to deal with this situation and most part of scheme is still at the planning stage," the committee noted.
"The Committee recommends that the ministry should take up this matter with a great sense of urgency as the reality paints a very gloomy picture," said the group, asking the ministry to give its reasons for the delay in executing schemes under the Nirbhaya Fund.
The Nirbhaya Fund was announced in the 2013 Union Budget after the December 2012 gang-rape which jolted the nation and led to angry protests, not just in India but across the world. The fund has a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore.
Various ministries have proposed projects to utilise this fund to work towards the safety and security of women.
The Women and Child Development Ministry has been asked to act "with a sense of urgency" by the Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, which cited the "ever increasing crimes against women on a daily basis across the country".
"The pace of implementation of the schemes envisaged under the Nirbhaya Fund is going at a very slow rate. Incidents of violence against women are increasing with every passing minute and the funds meant to tackle this problem remain idle," the committee commented.
"No concrete steps have been taken up by the authorities concerned to deal with this situation and most part of scheme is still at the planning stage," the committee noted.
"The Committee recommends that the ministry should take up this matter with a great sense of urgency as the reality paints a very gloomy picture," said the group, asking the ministry to give its reasons for the delay in executing schemes under the Nirbhaya Fund.
The Nirbhaya Fund was announced in the 2013 Union Budget after the December 2012 gang-rape which jolted the nation and led to angry protests, not just in India but across the world. The fund has a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore.
Various ministries have proposed projects to utilise this fund to work towards the safety and security of women.
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