The women and child development minister Smriti Irani today informed the Parliament in a written reply that a total of 1,023 fast track special courts have been set up for speedy disposal of rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act cases.

The minister assured that the central government accords high priority towards ensuring the safety and security of women and has undertaken various legislative and schematic interventions in this regard.

Advertisement

She further highlighted that the Empowered Committee under Nirbhaya Fund has recently approved a scheme for critical care and support for accessing justice to rape/gang-rape survivors and minor girls who get pregnant.

She cited examples of other proposals too that have been approved which includes opening One Stop Centres (OSCs) in 10 Indian missions abroad. It was learnt that another accepted proposal is the one of Bihar’s department of school education for improving self-defence quality in women and girls.

Irani also highlighted that the proposal of Punjab’s department of local government for Punjab urban local-bodies surveillance Grid for Women Safety (PUNGRID-WS) is to be implemented in 167 Urban Local Bodies.

The government has also put in place the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences, an online analytic tool for tracking and monitoring of investigation. A National Database on Sexual Offenders has also been created.

Irani also said that her Ministry and the Home Ministry have issued advisories to states/UTs from time to time on various issues pertaining to the safety and security of women and children.

…With IANS inputs