Nirbhaya Fund of Rs1,000 crore for women's safety announced

The government Thursday announced the setting up of a special Nirbhaya fund for women's safety with a corpus of Rs1,000 crore (Rs10 billion).

"Recent incidents have cast a shadow on women's safety. It is our collective responsibility to ensure dignity and safety of women. They deserve our support," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said while presenting the budget for 2013-14.

"I announce the setting up of the Nirbhaya Fund of Rs1,000 crore. I request the ministry of women and child development to plan the structure, scope and application of this fund," he said.

The fund has been announced in memory of the young woman, who passed away at a Singapore hospital on Dec 29 last year, two weeks after she had been brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in the Indian capital.

As the media is not allowed to name a rape victim, the young woman who fought those who assaulted her Dec 16 was referred to as "Nirbhaya" (fearless one) and "Damini" (lightning) by sections of the press.