India News | Women Helpdesks Functional at 10,425 Police Stations in India, Says WCD Ministry Official

New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) Women helpdesks have become functional in 10,425 police stations in the country, a senior official of the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Tuesday.

According to the official, of the about 20,500 police stations across the country, nearly half have women helpdesks.

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He said that in a meeting of the Empowered Committee of Officers held last week, the Centre was apprised of the number of the women helpdesks set up under the Nirbhaya Fund.

"We pronounced a year-and-a-half ago that we want to strengthen and set up women helpdesks across all police stations in the country. Women help desks are functional across 10,425 police stations now.

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"A total of Rs 107 crore was released for this effort. Nearly half of the police stations have been covered. There are about 20,500 police stations across the country," the official said.

The women helpdesks will be the first point of contact for aggrieved women approaching a police station seeking assistance.

The official also said 666 anti-human trafficking units have been established across the country.

A majority of schemes sanctioned under the Nirbhaya project are doing "quite well"... Particularly strengthening of Central forensic science laboratories, he said.

"CFSLs were not there in all the states. Those have been done. For four states which did not have CFSLs -- Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Nagaland -- for strengthening they have been further given Rs 17.31 crore. Chandigarh modernisation project has been approved at the cost of Rs 99.76 crore," the official said.

“Only in forensic facilities, we are spending around Rs 306 crore. Apart from that, there are a lot of projects like 'Safe City' for which Rs 2,900 crore have been earmarked."

This is being done in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai. The progress of these schemes has also picked up the pace and it is hoped that a major portion of the scheme will be completed by March next year, he said.

He further said special rape investigation kits which were imported earlier are now being made available by domestic manufacturers for Rs 1,100.

Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits or 'rape investigation kits' are designed to carry out immediate medico-legal investigation and aid in furnishing evidence in sexual assault and rape cases.

The government has a dedicated non-lapsable fund called 'Nirbhaya Fund' for the implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women in the country.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)