MHA sets up separate division on women's safety

In a bid to comprehensively deal with the issue of women's safety, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set up a separate division on the issue besides contemplating the establishment of the National Mission for Safety of Women to undertake specified actions in a time-bound manner.

The division will deal with all aspects of women's safety in coordination with relevant ministries/departments and states.

The subjects that the division will handle include crimes against women, SCs and STs, crimes against children and elderly persons, anti-trafficking cells, matters relating to prison legislation and prison reforms, all schemes under the Nirbhaya Fund, Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network System (CCTNS) and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Senior IAS officer Punya Salila Srivastava of the AGMUT cadre has been posted as joint secretary to head the division, an official statement said.

In order to address offences against women, particularly rape, in a holistic and time-bound manner, it said the division would focus on enhancing the capacity of the existing administrative, investigative, prosecutive and judicial machinery, along with appropriate measures for rehabilitation of victims and bringing attitudinal changes in society.

The MHA is also considering creating a National Mission for Safety of Women with the participation of stakeholder ministries and departments, who would undertake specified actions in a time-bound manner.

These include setting up of special fast-track courts, strengthening of the forensic set-up and building up of a National Registry of Sexual Offenders, appointing additional public prosecutors, and providing appropriate medical and rehabilitation facilities to victims.

Issues such as the sensitisation of children through appropriate changes in school curriculum, a media campaign for raising awareness, checking proliferation of pornography materials and online contents will also be addressed, the statement said.