If nothing else, the Delhi gang-rape protests have made women's safety an electoral issue. This was evident in the UPA's 'election' budget which mentioned women's safety thrice, obviously out of pressure from the gang-rape protests. Yet, the announcements are inadequate and populist say those involved in thinking around gender issues.
If nothing else, the Delhi gang-rape protests have made women's safety an electoral issue. This was evident in the UPA's 'election' budget which mentioned women's safety thrice, obviously out of pressure from the gang-rape protests. Yet, the announcements are inadequate and populist say those involved in thinking around gender issues.
It is not clear how the 1,000 crore 'Nirbhaya' fund, named after the pseudonym the gangrape victim was given, would be used. “ Ministry of WCD and other ministries concerned will be requested to work out the details of the structure, scope and application of the fund”, Chidambaram said. Centre For Social Research Director Ranjana Kumari is puzzled, “ We have no clue what this money is allotted for. There should have been some specificity about how the money would be used, and then the amount should have been announced”.
The budget also allotted 200 crore to the WCD ministry for designing schemes which would address gender discrimination at work place and issues of single women, widows and women belonging to the most vulnerable groups. The vague nature of this allocation is worrying especially since the month long protests had thrown up some specific demands and questions about the gender imbalance in laws.
AIPWA Secretary Kavita Krishnan feels that the least the bugdet could have done was announced that all medical expenses of rape, acid and abuse victims would be borne by the state. “ The money allotted is extremely minimal for the kind of measures that need to be taken - more courts, safe women shelters, forensic facilities, medical expenses of victims. The allocated thousand crore fund is peanuts. I am really upset by this”.
The idea of the first all-woman public sector bank too received criticism. “Who asked for women only banks!”, Krishnan says exasperated. “ It would have made sense had it involved increasing availability of loans which is where banks become inaccessible for women.” Interestingly, the first all woman's bank was set up in Pakistan in 1989.
In fact how less there has been a change in mindset of the political class is evident even from the name given to the fund named after the gangrape victim. In a tradition that originates in hiding a rape victim's real name since she would otherwise face social stigma, the fund has been named after her pseudonym“Nirbhaya”, thus missing out on the historic opportunity to mark at least one radical change in how women are perceived in society. In fact, a month back, her family had said they didn't mind her name being revealed and had even given approval to a Science Museum in Delhi to be named after her. Her name shouldn't be hidden since shes not at fault was their logic.
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