NEW DELHI: Under attack from the Ministry of Home Affairs for sitting quietly on approximately Rs 29 crore allocated under the Nirbhaya fund, the Delhi Police is weaving ad hoc measures at a time when women in the national capital face increasing violence.
According to sources, in a recent review meeting at North Block, Delhi Police was criticised for its inability to formulate proposals related to women safety and security. Of Rs 29 crore, the force was given an amount of Rs 3.4 crore that was to be used for special projects. However, the police were able to spend merely Rs 1.4 crore (42 per cent) in the last nine months.
Similarly, the police were supposed to hire 60 counsellors with a budget of approximately Rs 5 crore to give counselling to rape victims. These counsellors were supposed to be attached with 11 districts. But police have not been able to utilise this fund either.
Rs 28.90 cr: 2017-18 Rs 3.4 cr: 2016-17 Of Rs 3.4 cr for other activities, Rs 1.42 cr utilised
New Delhi: After the home ministry questioned the Delhi Police top brass about the reasons for lax administration, officers replied that “fund utilisation will improve from October”. “Fund utilisation will improve with the monthly payments to the Supervisory Officers and counsellors starting from September 2017,” the police assured MHA.
According to the sources, there is a major delay in giving payment to counsellors due to which some of them have stopped coming to work. “After months of leg work, police managed to hire about a dozen of counsellors but due to departmental delays, they couldn’t get the payments on time,” a senior police said.
A major chunk of Nirbhaya fund to the tune of Rs 20 crore was allocated to the Delhi Police to build Special Unit for Women & Children and Special Unit for North East Region at Nanakpura. This project too has been delayed due to lax approach of authorities.
A document reviewed by The Sunday Standard reveals that Delhi Police is mulling to issue show-cause notice to the executing agency for causing delay in constructing the building. Earlier this week, the central government expressed its helplessness in disbursing the Nirbhaya Fund due to lack of cooperation from the states.
The women safety and security issue that is being examined by the Supreme Court has been bothering the Centre since it launched the Nirbhaya Fund in 2013. The apex court had last month observed that there was a lot of confusion on Nirbhaya Fund as three ministries—Home Affairs, Finance, and Women and Child Development—were involved in it, but they did not know what is to be done.
Their Arguments
On hiring 60 counsellors
Fund utilisation will improve with the monthly payments to the Supervisory Officers and counsellors starting from September.
On construction of buildings
To get the work expedited through the executing agency and issue them show-cause for non-adherence to the timelines agreed.