One Stop Centres

• 26 May 2021

Why in News

The Ministry of Women and Child Development will set up One Stop Centres (OSCs) across 10 countries to provide assistance to Indian women who are survivors of gender-based violence.

• The missions where the OSCs will come up are Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada and Singapore.
• It will also set up 300 OSCs in the country in addition to the nearly 700 existing ones across all districts.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • It is a centrally sponsored scheme for addressing the problem of violence against women. It was launched in April 2015.
  • It is a subscheme of the umbrella scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of Women including Indira Gandhi Mattritav Sahyaog Yojana.
  • One stop centre will be established across the country and at least one OSC in every mission around the world to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence.
    
    • Indian missions represent an important form of contact between the Indians around the world and the government of India.
• Objectives:
  
  • To support women affected by the violence that they may face within the family or at the workplace or within the community, in private or public places.
    
    • Specially for women who face sexual, physical, psychological, emotional and economic abuse, irrespective of their caste, creed, race, class, education status, age, culture, or marital status.
• Funding:
  
  • It is funded through Nirbhaya Fund and the central government provides 100% financial assistance to the state governments /Union Territories administrations.

Nirbhaya Fund

• The Nirbhaya Fund Framework provides for a non-lapsable corpus fund for safety and security of women.
  
  • It was established in 2013.
• It is administered by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of the Government of India.
• It can be utilized for projects and initiatives related to women safety.

• Auditing:
  
  • Audit will be done as per Comptroller & Auditor General of India norms and social audit will also be undertaken by civil society groups.
• Services:
  
  • Emergency response and rescue services.
  • Medical assistance.
  • Assistance to women in lodging the FIR.
  • Psycho-social support and counselling.
  • Legal aid and counselling.
  • Shelter.
  • Video conferencing facility.
• Indian Legislative Framework to Prevent Violence Against Women:
  
  • The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013.
  • The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), 2012.
  • Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
  • The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
• Some Other Initiatives for Women:
  
  • SHe-Box portal.
  • Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana.
  • Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme.
  • National Creche Scheme.
  • Mahila e-haat.
  • GATI Scheme.
  • KIRAN Scheme.

Source:TH