Nirbhaya fund: Only Rs 600 crore used out of total Rs 3000 crore in 3 years

Only Rs 600 crore have been used in three years from the Nirbhaya fund, that has a corpus of Rs 3000 crore, for women-centric projects in the country, a WCD ministry official said.

The fund was created in 2013 to support initiatives by the government and NGOs working towards women's safety and welfare measures.

Women Child Development ministry is working on two projects under the fund -- a one-stop centre for distressed women at a cost of Rs 18.58 crore and universalisation of a women helpline at the cost of Rs 69.49 crore, the official said.

"Funds amounting to Rs 10.71 crore have been released in respect of one-stop centres and Rs 13.92 crore sanctioned for the helpline," the official added.

Two more projects are being implemented by the Union Home Ministry -- creation of Rs 200-crore Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) and Investigative Units for Crime against Women (IUCAW) in all police districts of the country at a cost of Rs 324 crore.

CVCF and IUCAW were launched last year by the Home Ministry to support victims of rape, acid attack and human trafficking and to augment the capacity of state governments to investigate heinous crimes against women respectively.

An empowered committee, chaired by the WCD Secretary, finalizes the programmes to be implemented under the Nirbhaya fund.

The Finance and the Home secretaries, representatives of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Department of Electronics and IT, Department of Economic Affairs and the Chairman of the Railway Board, are also part of this committee.