Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit (File Pic)
The 181 "Nirbhaya" helpline set up by the Delhi government in the aftermath of the fatal gang-rape of a young medical student in December, 2012, is on the verge of being disconnected.
Former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit calls it "insensitivity towards women," and has vowed to take it up with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
"This is a very retrograde step. There should be some number that women can go to... some number when needed. I condemn it," she said today.
An SOS from the helpline has already gone to the Lieutenant-Governor.
The Nirbhaya helpline was a part of several steps taken by the Delhi government following the horrific assault on the 23-year-old - given the name 'Nirbhaya' - in a moving bus. The incident became a symbol of the dangers women face in India, and triggered major changes in laws on crimes against women.
The helpline is run by an all-women team who say they haven't received salaries for two months. Some of them are from very poor families, and at least a dozen are survivors of such crimes. Their contracts have reportedly not been renewed since December.
Even in its neglected state, the helpline continues to receive some 3,000 calls every day and the staff claim to have processed 75,000 cases till now, related to sexual abuse, acid attacks and kidnappings.
It was aimed as a one-stop crisis cell linked with hospitals, police and courts, but the plan apparently fell off the radar because of the December assembly polls, the dramatic takeover by an Aam Aadmi Party-led government and the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal last month.
The city is currently under direct presidential rule.