Govt accords highest priority to safety of women: Rai

The central government accords highest priority to safety of women and has introduced stringent laws to deal with crimes against women, Union minister Nityanand Rai said on Monday.

Inaugurating a state-of-the-art DNA analysis centre at Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Chandigarh, Rai also said the Home Ministry will set up women help desks in all police stations and anti-human trafficking units in all districts.

He said the government has accorded highest priority to safety of women, and apart from introducing stringent penalties in laws, several other steps have been taken in this regard, he said.

These measures include operationalising '112' emergency service in 28 states and union territories, commencement of 'Safe City' projects in eight large cities and strengthening state forensic science laboratories, an official statement said.

The new advanced forensic DNA analysis laboratory has been set up under the Nirbhaya Fund scheme, with an allocation of Rs 99.76 crore.

This centre will provide state-of-the-art facility for sexual assault and homicide unit, paternity unit, human identification unit and mitochondrial DNA unit.

The Directorate of Forensic Science Services (DFSS) has ensured that this centre is fully equipped with modern DNA profiling equipment and has a capacity to examine 2,000 cases per year, the statement said.

Rai emphasised that all states and union territories utilise this facility as well as set up similar facilities in their respective states for quick disposal of forensic cases referred to them.

This will facilitate a modern, responsive criminal justice system. However, he said everyone should work towards creating a community where crimes against women do not take place.

The minister also said that a specialised training in collection of forensic evidence is being undertaken by Bureau of Police Research and Development and more than 6,000 personnel have been trained.

The DNA analysis has become critical in ensuring timeliness and efficiency in completion of criminal investigation as well as better convictions.

Forensic DNA profiling is a very sensitive and reproducible technique that has become one of the most valuable tools in modern criminal investigation such as human identification in mass disasters, paternity and maternity disputes, identification of victim and suspect in rape and murder cases, child swapping in hospitals, identification of deceased, organ transplantation and immigration.

The DFSS, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has set up central forensic science laboratories (CFSLs) in the country. These are located in Bhopal, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata.

Apart from assisting the states in undertaking forensic examination of evidence, the predominant role of CFSLs is to undertake research and development activities with a view to develop new forensic techniques, adopt the latest developments in basic sciences for forensic analysis and disseminate this information to the other forensic science laboratories.