New Delhi: The Ministry of Women & Child Development has set up 151 Centres till date under the new scheme of One Stop Centres (OSCs) for women affected by violence. 30,000 such women affected by violence have been assisted at these centres till date. This information was given by Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to a starred question in the Lok Sabha today. The purpose of these One Stop Centres is to help those women who have no access to either police or medical facilities or are not able to visit a police station in times of distress, the Minister explained. Each centre has a psychologist, a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, police and facility for 8 beds which can be expanded. The WCD Ministry is trying to get 600 OSCs for setting up across the country, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said.
In reply to a supplementary, Smt Maneka Gandhi said that the scheme of Universalization of Women’s Helpline was started in April, 2015 which has now become operational in 22 States. Every OSC is being connected to this Women Helpline, she said. The Government is also working towards installation of panic button in every mobile phone and this panic button is expected to become operational by September end. Another proposal given by the WCD Ministry of 33% reservation for women in police force has been accepted by the Ministry of Home Affairs. All UTs and seven States have implemented this proposal and have started recruitment in this direction, the WCD Minister elaborated. Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that scheme of Mahila Police Volunteers has also been launched and has been operationalized by the State of Haryana, which will be gradually extended to other States.
In reply to another supplementary, the WCD Minister said that the Ministry provides financial assistance for the scheme of Working Women Hostels. 940 hostels have been set up across the country till date and have benefited 70600 women.
Smt Maneka Gandhi also said that the WCD Ministry provides financial assistance for setting up of Swadhar Grehs for women victims of difficult circumstances. Any complaints received regarding the functioning of these Swadhar Grehs are taken up seriously and referred to the National Commission for Women for suitable action, the Minister said.
