Question : Review of Nirbhaya Fund

(a) whether the Government has set up a dedicated fund called Nirbhaya Fund for enhancing the safety and security of women in the country and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Nirbhaya Fund is regularly reviewed and monitored by the Government and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the coordination process among the Ministries of Home Affairs, Finance and Women and Child Development in implementation of the said fund;

(d) whether it is a fact that States/UTs release the funds to victims on their own and are not required to furnish their proposals to the Union Government for approval and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the measures taken by the Government for speedy justice to the victim or dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and who require rehabilitation?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR)

(a) Yes Madam, Government of India has set up a dedicated fund called Nirbhaya Fund in 2013, for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country. It is a non-lapsable corpus fund. The details of funds allocated under Nirbhaya Fund for the last 5 years is as under:

Years 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 Total
Funds Allocated
(Rupees in Crore) 1000 Cr. 1000 Cr. Nil 550 Cr. 550 Cr. 3100 Cr.

(b) Nirbhaya Fund is being monitored by the Government. The Empowered Committee of Officers under Nirbhaya Fund from time to time reviews and monitors the implementation of schemes/ projects already appraised by it.

(c) Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal authority for appraisal of the schemes/ proposals received under Nirbhaya Fund. The Empowered Committee (EC) which is an inter-ministerial committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, WCD (Nodal Ministry) for appraising and recommending schemes/ proposals
of Ministries/ Departments and State Governments under Nirbhaya Fund. The Secretary, MHA; Secretary, MoRTH; Chairman, Railway Board ; Secretary, Department of Electronic & IT; Joint Secretary, DEA; Secretary of the Project Sponsoring Department;


Secretary of the concerned State Government Department; and Secretary, State Department of WCD are the members of the Empowered Committee. After recommendation/ appraisal by the Empowered Committee, the concerned Ministry/ Department takes the approval of Competent Authority.

(d) to (e) : As per Section 357A of Cr.P.C., every State Government in Co-ordination with the Central Government is required to prepare a Victim Compensation Scheme for providing funds for the purpose of compensation to the victim or his dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and who require rehabilitation. All the State/Union Territories have notified Victim Compensation Scheme in their respective State/UT. In view of the disparity in quantum of compensation notified by different States/UTs for victims of similar crimes, the Government of India has set up a Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) with an initial corpus fund of Rs 200 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund for supporting States/UTs towards the implementation of Victim Compensation Scheme framed under section 357A Cr.PC. Under the CVCF scheme, financial assistance of Rs. 200 Crores as one time grant has been released to all the States/UTs in 2016-17 to support their respective State Victim Compensation Scheme.


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