Arun Jaitley unveils schemes for women's safety

New Delhi, July 10: Noting that women safety was a matter of concern, Finance Minister

on Thursday unveiled schemes to ensure their security in public transport and in large cities.

"Women's safety is a concern shared by all members... We need to test out different approaches that can be validated and scaled up quickly," Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha while presenting the national budget.

He announced an outlay of Rs.50 crore to be spent by the ministry of road

transport and highways on a scheme on "Safety for Women on Public Road Transport".

He said Rs.150 crore will be spent by home ministry to increase the safety of women in large cities.

"It is also proposed to set up 'Crisis Management Centres' in all the districts of NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi this year in all government and private hospitals. The funding will be provided from the Nirbhaya Fund," he added.

The Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the previous government focussing on women's safety with a corpus of Rs.1,000 crore (Rs.10 billion).

The fund was established in memory of a young woman who died after she has been brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in the Indian capital.

IANS