Women safety high priority, says home ministry, lists measures taken

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy listed various initiatives taken by the government for women's safety across the country

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday said that women safety is a high priority for the government and several initiatives have been taken for the safety of women across the country.

In a written reply to a question regarding crime against women, the Minister listed various initiatives taken by the government for women's safety across the country.

"The Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 was enacted for effective deterrence against sexual offenses. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted to prescribe even more stringent penal provisions including the death penalty for rape of a girl below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and trials within 2 months each," the minister said in his reply in Lok Sabha.

Speaking about another initiative, his letter read: "'Emergency Response Support System' provides a pan-India, single, internationally recognized number (112) based system for all emergencies, with the computer-aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress."

He also added that 'Safe City Projects' have been sanctioned in the first Phase in 8 cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Mumbai.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs has launched a cyber-crime portal on 20th September 2018 for citizens to report obscene content. It has launched the 'National Database on Sexual Offenders' (NDSO) on 20th September 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies," it further read.

He also stated that an online analytic tool for police called 'Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences' to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018 was launched on February 19 this year to facilitate states/Union Territories.

"'One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme is being implemented across the country since April 1, 2015, which is exclusively designed to provide integrated services such as medical aid, police assistance, legal counselling/court case management, psycho-social counselling and temporary shelter to women affected by violence under one roof," he said.

He also noted that around 728 OSCs have been approved by the government of India and around 595 OSCs are operational in the country.