Centre to ask state governments to set up OSCC for women victims of rape

The Centre will ask all central hospitals and state governments to set up an 'One Stop Crisis Centre' for (OSCC) woman victims of serious crimes and rape and abuse victims will be placed in a cabin in hospitals to screen them and their families off public gaze.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today announced a number of measures his ministry intends to take to deal with cases of women suffering rape and abuse, which have triggered nationwide outrage.

He said the government will put at the disposal of hospital officials a special fund to meet all medico-legal needs of victims and this will also cover the stay and costs of travel of the family members of victims.

"No payment will be extracted from them under whatever head," he said at the launch of an OSCC, touted as the country's first single-window help for women victim, of "atrocities", in Bhopal.
He was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and film star Aamir Khan.

"I am much impressed by this (OSCC) collaborative effort in Bhopal between a government and NGO. I assure you that this will become a model for the rest of the country and especially in the national capital where the attitude of those authorised to deal with victims of abuse leaves much to be desired", he said.

Vardhan said he will issue an advisory to all central hospitals and to state governments to set up OSCC-like institutions under their roofs.

Noting that specific rules and protocols exist to deal with such woman victims, there is no "drive" among officials to enforce them.

In this regard, he made a mention of rules banning a test banned by the Supreme Court.

"We will introduce punitive clauses so that officials disobeying protocol are suspended," he said.