SAKHI: ONE STOP CENTRES
WHY IN NEWS?
Recently, the Ministry of Women & Child Development has made an announcement that in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, it will set up 10 One Stop Centres in 9 countries to support Indian women affected by violence in public or private spaces.
The 9 countries are -
1. Australia
2. Canada
3. Singapore
4. Bahrain
5. Saudi Arabia
6. Kuwait
7. Oman
8. Qatar
9. UAE
The Ministry has also announced Rs 74 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund for rape victims who are minors.
WHAT IS ONE STOP CENTRES SCHEME?
Ministry of Women & Child Development has formulated a scheme known as the One Stop Centre Scheme, popularly known as Sakhi.
The scheme is a sub-scheme of Umbrella scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of Women including Indira Gandhi Mattritav Sahyog Yojana.
It was first recommended by the Usha Mehra Commission in 2013, to help victims of sexual assault and to ensure speedy punishment to culprits
The scheme was implemented on April 1st, 2015.
It is a Centrally sponsored scheme in which 100% financial assistance will be provided by the Centre to the State govt./ UTs
It will be funded through Nirbhaya Fund and will be audited as per the norms of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
OBJECTIVES OF THE SCHEME-
1. To establish One Stop Centres across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in public and private spaces in phased manner.
- Phase I - 1 centre for every state & UT
- Phase II - Additional 150 centres in 2016-17
- Currently, there are 700 One Stop Centres across the country in which UP has highest number of centres (75), and in the second number comes MP ( 51).
2. To provide immediate, emergency, and non-emergency access to a range of services including medical, legal, psychological & counseling support in one place to fight against any form of violence against women.
3. It provides support to women of all age ( above and below 18 years of age ) affected by violence, irrespective of their caste, religion, gender, region, orientation,or marital status.
4. The women can approach the centre by herself, or through a relative, friend, NGO volunteer, or through any public-spirited citizen, public servant, or through women helpline integrated with police, ambulance & other emergency response helpline.
5. The services provided by centres are -
- Emergency Response & Rescue Services
- Medical Assistance
- Assistance in lodging FIR/NCR/DIR
- Psychological & social support through counseling
- Legal aid
- Shelter
- Video Conferencing Facility.
WHAT IS NIRBHAYA FUND?
Nirbhaya Fund was created after the 2012 Delhi rape incident of a paramedic student. The fund was announced by the then Finance Minister of India, P.Chidambaram in his 2013-14 budget speech, with Rs. 1000 crore as initial allocation in the fund.
The fund was created for women empowerment, safety, and security for women and girl children.
It is a non-lapsable corpus fund.
It is administered by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India.
CONCLUSION-
Such kind of centres proves really helpful for women specially in situations like COVID-19 pandemic where the number of cases of domestic violence has increased & women need more protection and help. Opening such centres in different countries can really help Indian women residing in those countries against violence and abuse.
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