Parliamentary panel pulls up government for not utilising Nirbhaya Fund

Criticising the government for not utilising the Nirbhaya Fund, a parliamentary panel on Tuesday asked it to restructure the women's safety scheme, saying the title was a "misnomer" as it does not include the girl child.

The Expenditure Department have been in the "habit of parking of funds over the years" pending formulation and approval of Schemes matching the allocation, said a report of Standing Committee on Finance tabled in Parliament.

"For instance, 'Nirbhaya Fund for Safety of Women' was set up in September, 2013 with an initial allocation of Rs 1,000 crore but opened an account in Public Account belatedly in January, 2014.

"Subsequently, an allocation of Rs 1,000 crore has been made in 2013-14 and another Rs 1,000 crore in BE 2014-15 when there has been no utilisation since the fund was set up," the report said.

It further said that after lapse of two years from setting up of the fund, only two Schemes with paltry allocation of funds, one of Rs 50 crore and another one (for which no details of funds allotted were provided to the Committee) have been approved and are under implementation.

The panel also observed that the title of the Fund is a misnomer as the 'Girl Children' are not included.

"From the foregoing it is apparent that the government in spite of its best intentions have not been able to utilise the precious monies allocated under the Nirbhaya Fund." The Committee asked the government to "review and restructure the scope and objectives of the Nirbhaya Fund" after having wider consultations with the stakeholders so that the intention of setting up of this separate fund would fructify without any further loss of time.