New Delhi, Oct 6: In a move to ensure the safety of women, the ministry of women and child development has made women's help desks operational in 10,245 police stations across the country.

 

A senior official of the ministry told reporters on Tuesday that women's helpdesks have become functional in 10,425 police stations in the country. The official said that in a meeting of the empowered committee of officers held last week, the Centre was appraised of the number of the women helpdesks set up under the Nirbhaya Fund.

 

"We pronounced a year-and-a-half ago that we want to strengthen and set up women helpdesks across all police stations in the country. A total of Rs 107 crore was released for this effort. Nearly half of the police stations have been covered. There are about 20,500 police stations across the country," the official said.

 

The women's helpdesks will be the first point of contact for aggrieved women approaching a police station seeking assistance. Besides, the official said 666 anti-human trafficking units have been established across the country. A majority of schemes sanctioned under the Nirbhaya project are doing "quite well". Particularly in strengthening of Central Forensic Science Laboratories, he said.

 

"CFSLs were not there in all the states. For four states which did not have CFSLs -- Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Nagaland -- for strengthening they have been further given Rs 17.31 crore. Chandigarh modernization project has been approved at the cost of Rs 99.76 crore," the official said.

 

“Only in forensic facilities, we are spending around Rs 306 crore. Apart from that, there are a lot of projects like ''Safe City'' for which Rs 2,900 crore have been earmarked."

 

The official said special rape investigation kits which were imported earlier are now being made available by domestic manufacturers for Rs 1,100. The official said that sexual assault evidence collection kits or ''rape investigation kits'' are designed to carry out immediate medico-legal investigation and aid in furnishing evidence in sexual assault and rape cases.

 

The government has a dedicated non-lapsable fund called ''Nirbhaya Fund'' for the implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women in the country, the official said