New Delhi, June 8 (Agency) Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Thursday said that the women are safe under the Modi-led government, and they are leading India’s growth and development story. Enumerating the achievements of BJP-led government in the last 9 years, the Union Minister said, “There was a time when the government used to say that women should be uplifted, now the time has come when India says that if the nation is to be uplifted, women’s development is essential. “Criticizing the Congress party, Smriti Irani said that “The Congress government, which confined itself to announcements, did not undertake a single operational project for women’s safety”.
Addressing a press conference here at party headquarters, Irani said that “In 9 years tenure, our ministry upraised projects worth 12 thousand crores under the Nirbhaya Fund along with other projects of the State Governments”. Dwelling on other initiatives of the Ministry she said on the instructions of the Prime Minister, the process of setting up women protection centers in every district of the country is going on. Presently 733 such centers are functional, and the central government has ensured the budget for opening 300 more centers.”Today more than 34 ‘women helplines’ are working in our country” she added.
The Union Minister said that the funds have been made available for the ‘Safe City Project’ in 8 cities namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai. “It was our resolution that women’s help desks should be set up in every police station, under which 13,550 help desks have been set up in various police stations so far” she added. The Minister said, “around 800 One Stop Centers have been approved in our country, out of which a total of 733 Centers is functional”. Talking about the fast-track courts, she said around 1,023 fast track courts have been set up in the country, out of which 418 courts are exclusively POCSO courts.
“More than 780 district-wise ‘Anti Human Trafficking Units’ are working in the country for the safety of women “she added. The Minister informed that around 27 crore Jan Dhan Accounts are held by women beneficiaries which showcases that empowering woman has been one of the topmost priorities of Modi Government. She said the government has connected every Anganwadi in the country with smart phones and so far, 11 lakh smartphones have been distributed…adding we set up a system called Poshan Tracker, due to which more than 9 crore beneficiaries are availing the benefits of the schemes”.