Budget Gives More Power To Women Safety: MHA Schemes Get Rs 1,105 Crore, Nirbhaya Fund Doubled

The allocation for women’s safety schemes has gone up almost 3.5 times, from Rs 321 crore in 2023-24 to a substantial Rs 1,105 crore in the budget under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the fiscal year 2024-25. Moreover, the Nirbhaya Fund, a cornerstone initiative aimed at bolstering women’s security, has seen its budget doubled from Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore.

Named after the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, the Nirbhaya Fund has been instrumental in supporting various projects and schemes designed to create safer environments for women. This fund was named after the victim, whose brutal assault shocked the nation and led to widespread protests demanding better measures for women’s safety.

The decision to double this fund reflects an intensified focus on combating violence against women and implementing measures that provide protection and support, said senior officers, instrumental in contributing to the budget of the MHA.

FOCUS ON WOMEN SAFETY

“This remarkable increase underscores the government’s dedication to addressing the critical issue of women’s safety through comprehensive and well-funded initiatives. This is a financial boost for the several initiatives needed to intensify women safety in the country. It includes prevention of cybercrime against women, strengthening the anti-human trafficking unit, upgradation of central forensic science laboratories and so on,” said a senior IPS officer serving in the MHA.

“Additionally, the increased funding will likely support self-defense training, awareness campaigns, setting up more women centric security desks and other programmes, and also for the strengthening of law enforcement agencies to ensure a swift and effective response to crimes against women,” the senior officer added.

The total allocation of Rs 1,105 crore under the head of ‘schemes for safety of women’ includes a whopping allocation of Rs 700 crore for the ‘modernisation of forensic capacities’, states the budget document.

Another senior IPS officer said that the budget for the MHA has heavy allocation for forensic capabilities. “It has been done as the new criminal code -Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)– and its rules heavily depend on forensic centric investigation. The BNS mentions it, and for that the central and state police organisations need and reorganize its forensic setups,” he added.