Sigh of relief! MHA sets up special division to address issues of women safety

New Delhi, May 26: Women safety has always been on top priority for the government, the Ministry of Home Affairs has created a new division to address issues of women safety comprehensively. This Division would deal with all aspects of women safety in coordination with relevant Ministries or Departments and State Governments.

 

In order to address the offenses against women particularly in case of rape in a holistic and time-bound manner, the set division will deal with the matters related to women. This division will help to enhance the capacity of the existing administrative, investigative, prosecution and judicial machinery, along with appropriate measures for rehabilitation of victims and bringing attitudinal changes in society.

AGMUT Cadre officer of 1993 batch, Punya Salila Srivastava, has been posted as Joint Secretary to head this Division.

The new Division will deal with the following subjects:‑

i. Crimes against women, SCs&STs.

ii. Crimes against children, elderly persons.

iii. Anti-trafficking Cell.

iv. Matters relating to Prison legislation and Prison Reforms.

v. All schemes under NIRBHAYA fund.

vi. Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network System (CCTNS)

vii. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

Dealing with getting a framework of a holistic outlook for this division, the National Mission for women along with the stakeholders and ministries will work together. These included setting up of Special Fast Track Courts (FTCs), strengthening of forensic set up and building up of National Registry of Sexual offenders, and providing appropriate medical and rehabilitation facilities to victims.

Issues like sensitization of children through appropriate changes in school curriculum, a media campaign for raising awareness, checking proliferation of pornography materials and online contents etc. will also be addressed.

Enhancing their reach to safeguard the women in the society, the cabinet has also approved various acts pertaining to the safety and security of the women. An important aspect in the investigation of rape cases concerns tracking of the accused persons and sharing of information with the concerned agencies in this regard. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will maintain database and profile of sexual offenders at the national level and share it with the States and UTs on regular basis. NCRB data will be used by the police for verification of antecedents for prospective employers. The preparatory work for creating this database urgently has commenced.