'One Stop Centres' for women in 100 more districts

As many as 100 additional districts would have One Stop Centres (OSC) aimed at supporting women affected by violence, as part of plans to cover all districts of the country in due course, an official statement said on Monday.

"In the Programme Approval Board (PAB) meeting of the Ministry of Women and Child Development today, 100 additional One Stop Centres have been approved in the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh," said an ministry statement.

The OSCs aim to facilitate integrated services for violence-affected women like police assistance, medical aid, psycho-social counselling, legal aid/counselling and temporary stay for five days under one roof.

The government has already set up 182 centres since April 2015. More than 1.3 lakh women affected by violence have been assisted at these centres till date in the 33 states and Union Territories, said the statement.

On April 21, 2018, the Cabinet decided that in the coming years every district will be covered by one OSC and each OSC will be strengthened with an additional annual grant of Rs 50,000 for immediate assistance for first aid, it said.

The OSCs are set up in existing and new buildings in a standard format. The first OSC built at Raipur, Chhattisgarh has received the President's award on March 8, 2018 on the International Women's Day.

Also, the scheme of Universalization of Women's Helpline (181) is now operational and every OSC is integrated to this helpline, which has helped more than 16.5 lakh women so far, the Ministry said.

--IANS

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