Govt failing to utilise Nirbhaya fund for women, says plea

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court ordered notice to the central and state governments on a petition seeking to utilise

Nirbhaya fund

in Tamil Nadu.

The plea, filed by one B Karthee came up for admission before the division bench headed by justice M Sathyanarayanan.

The petitioner’s counsel said that to support women, affected by crimes, violence, the central government is implementing various schemes like one-stop centre, mahila police volunteers, emergency response support system, central victim compensation and railways’ integrated emergency response management system.

To pump fund to those schemes, the government also created

Nirbhaya

fund and started allotting funds from 2014-15 budget. The fund now stands at Rs 3,100 crore.

Crimes against women have increased. It was 9.4% in 2011 and went up to 10.7% in 2015. In Tamil Nadu, 5,847 cases were reported in 2015. Women affected could get benefit under the Nirbhaya fund.

But, the state’s secretaries of ‘social welfare and nutritious meal programme’ and ‘home, prohibition and excise’ are not taking steps to utilise the Nirbhaya fund.

Seeking to take action to utilise the fund in the state, the petitioner sent a representation to the secretaries of women and child development, home affairs and railway ministries and secretaries of state’s social welfare and nutritious meal programme and home on February 24.

But, there was no action from them. Hence, it was necessary to issue a direction to those officials to take action to utilise the fund in the state, the counsel prayed.

Following it the bench ordered notice and adjourned the case to April 25.


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