Maneka Gandhi meets Kejriwal, offers funds for One Stop Centres

New Delhi, Sep 7 Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi today met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and offered funds to set up One Stop Centres (OSC) in the capital under the Nirbhaya Fund.

While nearly 23 states have sought funds from the Centre this year for setting up OSCs, Delhi has not sent any proposal to the Women and Child Development ministry, according to a source.

"Met Delhi CM Shri @ArvindKejriwal to discuss establishment of One-Stop Centres in Delhi. Offered funds to set up a Centre in each district of Delhi to help women in distress," Gandhi tweeted. When the scheme was implemented in 2015, 33 One Stop Centres had to be set up across the country.

On May 31, 2016 Women and Child Development ministry revised that target and added another 150 centres to be created by the end of FY 2016-2017.

So far 18 One Stop Centres have been set up across the country. This year the ministry has approved funds for 82 centres, according to a source.

One Stop Centres are operational in Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Vijayawada City (Andhra Pradesh), Karnal (Haryana), Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Chandigarh, Puducherry, Bambolim(Goa), Udupi (Karnataka), Diu (Daman & Diu), Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Papumpare, (Arunachal Pradesh) Uttar Pradesh (Banda), Dimapur (Nagaland), Shillong (Meghalaya), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Based on a formula developed by the ministry, Uttar Pradesh is eligible for maximum number of One Stop Centres at 15.

Bihar is at second position as it is eligible for 8 One Stop Centres. Delhi is eligible for 6 One Stop Centres. The Budget estimates for the scheme of One Stop Centres for the year 2016-17 is Rs 75 crore.

The One Stop Centre scheme, it has been envisaged to facilitate access to an integrated range of services including medical aid, police assistance, legal aid, psycho-social counselling to women affected by violence including sexual assault.

The Nirbhaya Fund was set up after the 2013 Union Budget announcement in the aftermath of the December 2012 gang rape. Rs 200 crores have been set aside for victims of sexual crimes.

PTI