Lok Sabha Question No. 4798 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-28
Subject: Safety of Women at Workplace
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Smt. Lovely Anand

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN- STARRED QUESTION NO. 4798

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2025

## SAFETY OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE

+ 4798: SMT. LOVELY ANAND:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the funds spent under Nirbhaya Fund for the safety of women till date;
- (b) the details of the present status of women helpline and One Stop Centres; and
- (c) the details of the steps being taken to ensure safety of women at workplaces?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a):  Under the Nirbhaya Fund, upto the current financial year 2024-25, an amount of Rs. 7712.85 Cr. has been provided and the total amount released and utilized out of Nirbhaya  fund  by  the  Ministries/  Departments/  Implementing  Agencies  (IAs)  since inception is Rs 5,846.08 Crore, which is approximately 76% of the total allocation.

The schemes/ projects under Nirbhaya Fund address the core areas of safety and security of women be it related to prevention of crime or prosecution of offenders or providing institutional support  to the  women facing violence or those in distress. It includes   One  Stop  Centres  (OSC),  Universalisation  of  Women  Helplines  (WHL), Emergency  Response  Support  System  (ERSS),  Cyber  Crime  Prevention  against Women and Children (CCPWC), Safe City Project in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai), establishment of State of  Art  DNA  Laboratory  at  CFSL,  Chandigarh,  strengthening  DNA  analysis,  cyber forensic  &  related  facilities  in  State  Forensic  Science  Laboratories  (SFSLs)  in  30 States/ UTs, setting up and strengthening of Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in all  districts  of  the  country  and  in  border  guarding  forces,  setting  up/  strengthening Women Help Desks (WHDs) in Police Stations across all States & UTs, Training of Investigation  Officers  (IOs)/  Prosecution  Officers  (POs)/  Medical  Officers  (MOs)  in forensic evidence collection and handling and distribution of Forensic Kits for Sexual Assault  cases,  Integrated  Emergency  Response  Management  System (IERMS)  in Indian Railways, Video Surveillance System at  Konkan Railway Stations, Tabs for Security of Women, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Facial Recognition System (FRS) integrated with video surveillance systems across 7 major railway stations (Mumbai CST, Delhi, Howrah, Sealdah, Patna, Secunderabad and Chennai Central), Vehicle Tracking Platform and various other projects of State Transport departments and Fast Track Special Courts to dispose of cases pending   trial under Rape & POCSO Act, etc.

(b):     The Women Helpline (WHL) and One Stop Centre (OSC) are components of sub-scheme 'Sambal' under umbrella 'Mission Shakti' implemented by the Central Government  during  the  Fifteenth  Finance  Commission  period  upto  2025-26.   The 'Sambal' sub-scheme is 100% funded by the Central Government.

'The  Women Helpline provides toll free  24x7x365 emergency and non-emergency services through telephonic short code 181 to women in distress by connecting them to appropriate authorities/ institutions and to those seeking support and information about schemes and programs for women across the country. Women Helpline (181) is functional across 35 States/UTs except West Bengal. Till 31.01.2025, around 2.10 crore calls have been received and 84.43 lakh women have been assisted under the scheme. Since inception in April 2015 till 17.03.2025, an amount of Rs. 105.10 Crore has been released by the Ministry of Women & Child Development to various States/ UTs. The Women Helpline (181) is now integrated with Emergency Response Support System (112). The ERSS is also integrated with the Child Helpline (1098). These three platforms provide seamless support and help to needy women and children. Further, WHL has been integrated with 418 One Stop Centres till date.

Popularly  known  as  Sakhi,  the  One  Stop  Centres  (OSCs)  provide  services  in  an integrated  manner  under  one  roof  to  women  affected  by  violence  or  to  those  in distress, both in private and public spaces. It facilitates immediate, emergency and non-emergency access to a range of services including Police Facilitation, Medical Aid, Psycho-social Counseling, Legal Aid and Counseling and Temporary Shelters. As  on  25.03.2025,  894  OSCs  have  been  approved  and  812  are  functional.  Since inception, the OSCs have assisted over 10.80 lakh women. There is at least one OSC in each district of the country. Since inception till 17.03.2025, the Government has provided financial assistance to all the States/ UTs to the tune of Rs. 1079.68 Crore for operation and management of OSCs in the country.

(c):     The Government of India has taken numerous steps for effective implementation of  the  'Sexual  Harassment  of  Women  at  Workplace  (Prevention,  Prohibition,  and Redressal)  Act'  (SH  Act),  2013.  The  MWCD  launched  the  SHe-Box  portal  duly encompassing various provisions of 'the SH Act, 2013. This portal is an initiative of the Ministry to provide a publicly available centralised repository of information related to Internal Committees (ICs) and Local Committees (LCs) formed across the country, whether in government or private sector. It also provides a common platform to file complaints and track the status of such complaints.

The  portal  includes  a  feature  where  complaints  registered  on  it  get  automatically forwarded to the IC/ LC of the workplaces concerned registered on the portal. The portal provides for designating a nodal officer for every workplace who is required to ensure updation of data/ information on a regular basis for real time monitoring of complaints.

For effective implementation of the Act, the portal has been designed to include IC details  of  all  workplaces  of  all  sectors  on  the  She-box  portal  across  the  country, whether,  Central  or  State  Government  departments,  Private  sector  entities  or Professional Bodies including all educational and financial institutions, hospitals etc. to facilitate the lodging of complaint of aggrieved woman.

In addition to SHe-Box portal, following measures have been taken by Government towards the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace since the enactment of the said Act-

- i. MWCD being the Nodal Ministry for SH Act observes the Enactment day i.e. 9th December of the SH Act every year and issues letters/ advisories to all sectors  (including  Central  Government/  State  Government/  Private  Bodies/ Trade  organization/  Educational  Institutions/  and  other  organizations)  for effective implementation of the Act and also to constitute IC/ LC immediately.
- ii. The Ministry has also issued a Handbook on SH Act, 2013. The Handbook provides information about the Act in an easy-to-use practical manner. The soft copy of the Handbook has been uploaded on the Ministry's website and SHeBox portal for the purposes of mass dissemination and it has also been sent to Ministers  and  officials  concerned  of  various  Ministries/  Departments,  State Governments and Union Territory Administrations.
- iii. The Ministry has prepared a training module in collaboration with Institute of Secretariat Training  and Management  (ISTM)  for  training  and  Gender Sensitization programmes of personnel.
- iv. Ministry also launched a 'Guide on Gender-Inclusive Communication on 28th November 2023 to help removing gender stereotypes.
- v. The Ministry also offers regular training sessions to key stakeholders, including officers  from  Central  and  State/  UT  Governments,  through  a  hybrid  mode. These sessions are conducted with the support of its autonomous bodies, such as the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD).
- vi. The  Department  of  Personnel  and  Training,  Government  of  India  has  also issued  advisories  time  to  time  to  all  the  Central  Ministries/  Departments  to complete the inquiry in a time bound manner and to include the information related to number of cases filed/ disposed under the SH Act in their annual report.
- vii. Minister  of  Women  and  Child  Development  has  also  requested  Minister  for Corporate Affairs vide letter dated 26 th  June, 2015 to make constitution of the Internal  Committee  (IC)  a  mandatory  disclosure  under  the  Companies  Act, 2013. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide its order dated 31 st  July 2018 has accepted request of Ministry of Women & Child Development to amend the Company (Account) Rules, 2014 thereby making the disclosure regarding the implementation of SH Act mandatory in the Director's Report.

*****