Nirbhaya Fund
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Nirbhaya Fund was a
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1000
crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...
corpus announced by
Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
in its 2013 Union Budget, in the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape. The Finance Minister
P. Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee o ...
announced the fund to support initiatives protecting the dignity and ensuring safety of women in India. Nirbhaya () was the pseudonym given to the 2012 Delhi gang rape victim. The
Ministry of Women and Child Development The Ministry of Women and Child Development, a branch of the Government of India, is the apex body responsible for the formulation and administration of the rules, regulations, and laws relating to Women in India, women and Children in India, c ...
and several other ministries decided the application of the fund. One of its uses was to open One Stop Centers to support women who are victims of violence.


History

Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the Finance Minister in his 2013 budget speech, with Government contribution of Rs. 1000 crores for empowerment, safety and security of women and girl children. The fund is administered by Department of Economic Affairs of the
finance ministry A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
.


Use of funds

Various ministries proposed projects to use this fund to enhance the safety and security of women. Some of the ministries which submitted proposals were the Ministry of Information Technology, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Home Affairs. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) approved a Safe City project for Lucknow at a total cost of Rs. 194.44 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund Scheme. In November 2013, the
Ministry of Urban Development Ministry of Urban Development may refer to: * Ministry of Urban Development (Albania) *Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India, formerly the Ministry of Urban Development * Ministry of Urban Development (Maharashtra), India *Ministry of Urban D ...
asked states to propose and implement new plans that can be financed through the Nirbhaya Fund. The ministry has also notified States and Union Territories who would not get their quotas of new buses under the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a massive city-modernization scheme launched by the Government of India under the Ministry of Urban Development (India), Ministry of Urban Development. It envisaged a total investmen ...
if they fail to put in place steps to make public transport system safe for women. The fund was used to create "One Step Centres" or "Sakhi" across the country where women who were victim's of violence could find support. The One Stop Centres were initially set up with one proposed for every Indian state after a recommendation in 2013. The One Stop Centre in Raipur and the one in Lucknow (both funded by Nirbhaya) gained
Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar () is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is presented by the presi ...
awards on
International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...
in 2018 and 2019 respectively for their work in empowering women.


Criticism

The government was criticized for not using the fund effectively, with long delays and inadequate implementation of projects. The One Stop Center scheme, initially under the ‘Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women’, was subsumed with other schemes, under a new programme, ‘Sambal’ of ‘Mission Shakti’. Of the total allocated amount of Rs 587 crore for Sambal in 2021–22, Rs 183 crore, or roughly around 31%, has been used in that particular year. As a result, the allocation for the scheme was reduced to Rs 562 crore in subsequent years.


References

{{Nari Shakti Puraskar Violence against women in India Women's rights in India Government schemes in India 2013 establishments in India