Lok Sabha Question No. 4865 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: Security of Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Jaskaur Meena

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4865

TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.03.2023

## SECURITY OF WOMEN

## 4865.   SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  formulate  any  policy  for  security  of women to promote women empowerment and raise their participation in work force;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has taken any step in this regard; and
- (d) if not, the time by which it is likely to be implemented?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  to  (d):  The  Government  gives  utmost  priority  to  the  safety,  security  and empowerment of women. In the past few years, a number of initiatives have been taken for holistic development and empowerment of women. The Government has adopted  multi-pronged  approach  to  address  the  issue  of  women  on  a  life-cycle continuum basis for their educational, social, economic and political empowerment so that they become equal partners in fast paced and sustainable national development.

The  Government  of  India  gives  highest  importance  to  and  has  made/  is  making concerted  efforts  for  protection  of  women  and  girls  and  advancing  their  rights  to address the issue of safety and security of women. The Government has enacted criminal laws and special laws like 'the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005', 'the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961', 'the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006'; 'the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986'; 'the Sexual Harassment  of  Women  (Prevention,  Prohibition  and  Redressal)  Act,  2013',  'the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956', 'the Commission of Sati Prevention Act, 1987', 'the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012', 'the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015   etc. The Criminal Law Amendment of 2013 and 2018  has  made  the  penal  provisions  stringent  in  case  of  heinous  crimes  against women and children.

Further,  the  Ministry  implements  'Mission  Shakti',  an  umbrella  scheme  for  safety, security and empowerment of women under which there are components of One Stop Centre (OSC) and Universalization of Women Helplines (WHL). The OSCs, popularly known as Sakhi Centres, facilitate women affected by violence and in distress with a range of integrated services under one roof such as Police facilitation, medical aid, providing legal aid and legal counselling, psycho-social counselling, temporary shelter etc.  Further,  the  Women  Helpline  (WHL)  provides  24  hours  emergency  and  nonemergency response to women affected by violence and in distress, both in public and private spaces by linking them with appropriate authority such as Police, One Stop Centre,  Hospital,  Legal  Services  etc.  WHL  also  supports  women  by  providing information about Government's schemes and programs to needy women. Women can dial 181 short code to avail services from Women Helpline. A new component of Hub for Empowerment of Women provides financial assistance to States/ UTs for setting up of Hub at State and District level to facilitate inter-sectoral convergence of schemes and programmes meant for women at Central and State/ UT and District level with the mandate to create an environment in which women can realize their full potential.

In  addition,  several  projects/  schemes  are  implemented  by  Central  Government through other Ministries / Departments /Implementing Agencies under 'Nirbhaya Fund' which include Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) which is a pan-India single  number  (112)/  mobile  app  based  system  for  emergencies;  a  cyber-crime reporting portal to report obscene content; Safe City Projects in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,  Chennai,  Delhi,  Hyderabad,  Kolkata,  Lucknow  and  Mumbai)  including infrastructure,  technology  adoption  and  capacity  building  in  community  through awareness programmes, training and skill  development programs  for  Investigation Officers,  Prosecution  Officers  and  Medical  Officers;  distribution  of  Sexual  Assault Evidence Collection (SAEC) Kits to States/ UTs; establishment of State of Art DNA Laboratory at CFSL, Chandigarh; assistance to 28 States/ UTs to strengthen Forensic Science Laboratories; setting up of 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts for speedy disposal of cases of rape and cases under POCSO Act; setting up/ strengthening of Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in all districts of the country; setting up/ strengthening of Women Help Desks (WHDs) at Police Stations etc. The Government has also put in place Investigation Tracking System  for  Sexual  Offences  (ITSSO),  an  online  analytic  tool  for  tracking  and monitoring of investigation. A National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO) has also been created.

Under Nirbhaya Fund, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has also  undertaken  several  initiatives,  which,  inter-alia  includes  training  and  skill development programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers,  distribution  of  Sexual  Assault  Evidence  Collection  (SAEC)  Kits  to  States/ UTs.  BPR&D has also prepared Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for 'Women Help Desk at Police Stations' to ensure smooth functioning of Women Help Desks.

Ministry of Women and Child Development through National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) has provided  basic and advanced training under the project named 'Stree Manoraksha' to the staff of One Stop Centres (OSCs) across the country  on   handling  psycho-social  and  mental  health  care  needs  to  support  the women facing violence and women in distress.

Further,  the  Government  of  India  implements  various  schemes  /  programmes  of welfare of women/ girls. While the schemes implemented by the Government like Beti Bachao Beti  Padhao  (BBBP),  Pradhan  Mantri  Awas  Yojana  (Urban  &  Rural),   the National  Social  Assistance  Programme  (NSAP),  Pradhan  Mantri  Vyay  Vandana Yojana  (PMVVY)  supports  the  young  girls  and  women  to  be  socially  sound,  the initiatives  like  Samagra  Shiksha,  Scheme  of  National  Overseas  Scholarship,  Babu

Jagjivan Ram ChhatrawasYojna, Swacch Vidyalaya Mission, etc. ensure that schools are  girl-friendly  especially  for  vulnerable  sections  of  society  and  have  adequate facilities  in  place  to fulfill  their  special  requirements.  The National Education Policy prioritizes gender as an important guiding principle in all curricular areas. In order to enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial Training institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. To ensure economic independence  of  women  through  skill  development  and  vocational  training,  the Government has also introduced Skill India Mission. The National Skill Development Policy focuses on inclusive skill development, with the objective of increased women participation for better economic productivity. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikash Kendras lay emphasis on creating additional infrastructure both for training and apprenticeship for women; flexible training delivery mechanisms, flexible afternoon batches on local need-based training to accommodate women; and ensuring safe and gender sensitive training  environment,  employment  of  women  trainers,  equity  in  remuneration,  and complaint  redressal  mechanism.  There  are  schemes  like  Pradhan  Mantri  Mudra Yojana and Stand-up India, for helping  the women to set up their own enterprise. Under the Swacch Vidyalaya Mission, it was ensured that all schools have at least one functional toilet for girls. Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojna (PMUY) aims to safeguard the health of women by providing them with clean cooking fuel and also from drudgery of collecting firewood.  Further, in order to encourage employment of women, a number of enabling provisions have been incorporated in the recently enacted three Labour Codes  i.e.  the  Industrial  Relations  Code,  2020,  Occupational  Safety,  Health  and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code on Social Security, 2020 for creating congenial work environment for women workers. Stand-up India scheme promotes entrepreneurship amongst women. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee  Act,  2005  (MGNREGA)  mandates  that  at  least  one  third  of  the  jobs generated under the scheme (MGNREGS) should be given to women. For securing the future of the girl child, the government launched a savings scheme called 'Sukanya Samriddhi Account' etc.

Department  of  Higher  Education,  Ministry  of  Education  is  administering  'National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology' (NMEICT) Scheme,  SWAYAM  (Study  Webs  of  Active  Learning  for  Young  Aspiring  Minds), SWAYAM  PRABHA,  National  Digital  Library  (NDL),  Virtual  Lab,  e-Yantra,  NEAT (National Education Alliance for Technology) etc. to ensure quality education through e-learning to students across the country. Under the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram, Vidya Lakshmi Portal (VLP) has been launched by the Government on August 15, 2015 to ensure that students avail education loans easily through single window system of banks. All Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have been on-boarded on the Portal. Under the Samagra Siksha, Self-defence training covers girls of classes 6 to 12 of government schools.

The  Anganwadi  Services  under  Mission  Poshan  2.0  is  a  universal  scheme  under which all children below 6 years of age, pregnant women and lactating mothers are eligible  for  the  services  including  the  Supplementary  Nutrition  Programme  (SNP) provided under the scheme. Under Mission POSHAN 2.0, digital infrastructure has been strengthened to bring about greater transparency in nutrition delivery support systems. Technology under the 'Poshan Tracker' is being leveraged to support last mile tracking of nutrition service delivery to pregnant women and lactating mothers all over the country.

For partial compensation of wages and for promoting health seeking behavior among pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers,  Government  has  implemented  Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) which aims to promote appropriate practice, care and institutional service utilization during pregnancy, delivery and lactation by providing  cash  incentives  in  Direct  Benefit  Transfer  (DBT)  mode  to  pregnant  and lactating mothers. The benefit is available to a woman for the first two living children provided the second child is a girl. In case of the first child the amount of ₹5000 in two installments and for the second child, the benefit of ₹6000 will be provided subject to second  child  is  a  girl  child  in  one  installment  after  the  birth. Benefits  have  been extended to around 3.0 crore women through this scheme.

For  reducing  the  drudgery  and  care  burden  on  women,  under  the Swachchh Bharat Mission, construction of over 11.60 crore toilets have transformed the lives of women. The Government has ensured that 9.60 crore clean cooking gas connections are given to women below the poverty line in India.  In 2017, the Maternity Benefit Act was amended to increase paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.

Prime  Minister's  Rural  Digital  Literacy  Campaign  (Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital Sakasharta  Abhiyan  (PMGDISHA)  that  seeks  to  make  6  crore  persons  digitally literate,  by covering one member from every eligible household.

To economically empower women, 81% of loans of sizes from a million to ten million rupees under scheme of 'Stand-Up India' have been made available to women by the Government. Similarly, under 'MUDRA' (or Prime Minister's Micro-Units Development & Refinance Agency) scheme, 68% loans sized up to one million rupees have been sanctioned  to  women-owned  and  operated  enterprises.  Under  one  of  the  largest financial inclusion programmes in the world, 53% of the total accounts have been open by women under PM Jan Dhan Yojana, mostly in rural areas.  Under National Rural Livelihoods  Mission,  nearly 8.50  crore  women  are  connected  with around 82  lakh women's  self-help  groups that are  transforming rural  socio-economic  landscape  in several  innovative  and  socially  and  ecologically  responsible  ways,  also  availing governmental support including through collateral free loans.

The Central Government also undertakes awareness drives, media campaigns and outreach  programs  and  issues  advisories  to  the  States/  UTs  from  time  to  time  to highlight evil effects of this practice. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights  (NCPCR)  and  National  Commission  for  Women  (NCW)  also  undertakes awareness  programs  and  consultations  with  stakeholders  from  time  to  time.  In addition,  Government of India has introduced CHILDLINE with short code 1098, a 24X7 telephone emergency outreach service for children in crisis which responds with suitable interventions to call for any form of assistance which a child requires, including for prevention of child marriages in coordination with police, Child Marriage Protection Officers (CMPOs), District Child Protection Units etc.

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