E-Paper
Punjab failed to spend 88% of Nirbhaya Fund, Haryana 68%
The Nirbhaya Fund framework provided for a non-lapsable corpus fund for safety and security of women to be administered by Union finance ministry. It can be utilised to support initiatives for women safety and security.
Punjab and Haryana failed to spend bulk of the funds allocated from the ₹10,000-crore Nirbhaya Fund created by the central government for all the states and union territories for the safety and security of women, said a study by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF).
Punjab failed to spend 88% of the ₹33.22 crore allocated to it whereas neighbouring Haryana could not utilise 68% of the ₹28.12 crore. The Nirbhaya Fund framework provided for a non-lapsable corpus fund for safety and security of women to be administered by Union finance ministry. It can be utilised to support initiatives for women safety and security.
In Punjab, as per the study, the crimes against women saw a dip whereas there was an increase in crimes against children between 2015 and 2017. The number of incidents of crimes against women fell from 5,340 to 4,620 and those against children went up from 1,836 to 2,133. In Haryana, the incidents of crimes against women and children were up from 9,511 to 11,370 and 3,262 to 4,169, respectively, during the three-year period.
The foundation, in a press statement, said a study was undertaken to ascertain the pattern of utilisation of funds disbursed by the Centre to the various states/ UTs out of the Nirbhaya Fund created after the 2012 ghastly rape in the national capital.
“The study has brought out that the Government of India has so far released only ₹2,264 crore to the 36 states and UTs of the country. Despite a rise in sexual crimes and murder against women, only ₹252 crore have been used by some states, which accounts to 11% of the total amount,” the statement said.
Haryana director general of police Manoj Yadava said theirs was one of the states to have better utilised the fund. “We are at number five in terms of countrywide utilisation. The unutilised funds were on account of delays in the implementation of Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) designed for women safety. The state government has now sorted out the ERSS issues,” he said.
