Maharashtra among 6 states that didn't use Nirbhaya fund; UP, Delhi spent less than 5 per cent
New Delhi, Dec 15: The Nirbhaya fund, set up by the Centre in 2013 to be used towards ensuring women's safety, has seen a dismal nine per cent utilisation with states such as Maharashtra and Meghalaya not spending a single rupee from it, according to government data.
In total, just Rs 147 crore out Rs 1,649 crore sanctioned by the Centre has been spent by the state and UTs governments, the Parliament was recently informed by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani.
Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, the two states which were in the news recently for horrific incidents of rape and murder, were among the highest recipients of the Nirbhaya fund alongside Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.
While Karnataka used 7 per cent of the fund allocated to it by the Centre (the fund allocated to Karnataka was Rs 191 crore and utilisation Rs 13.62 crore), Tamil Nadu used 3 per cent of the amount allocated to it under the Nirbhaya fund (the fund allocated was Rs 190.68 crore and utilisation Rs 6 crore).
Six states and UTs - Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura and Daman & Diu - have not spent a single rupee from the fund allocated by the Centre, according to data shared by the minister in Parliament in response to a question.
The data also showed that Delhi, where the brutal incident took place, saw utilisation of less than 5 per cent of the fund allocated to it.
Delhi was allotted Rs 390 crore which was the highest amount among states and UTs but the utilisation certificate of just Rs 19.41 crore has been received from the city-state.
When asked about the same, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Centre rejected a Delhi government proposal to use Nirbhaya fund to install CCTV cameras and panic buttons in 5,500 DTC and cluster buses.
"We have not received Rs 390 crore," the chief minister claimed.
Telangana, where a 26-year-old vet was recently gang raped and murdered, spent only Rs 4 crore out of the Rs 103 crore allocated to it by the Union home ministry, which releases money from the Nirbhaya fund for 13 programmes including the Emergency Response Scheme.
On the question of under-utilisation of the Nirbhaya fund, the Centre has put the blame on state governments while state governments complain that money is not released for the proposals given by them to the Empowered Committee that has been tasked with appraising and recommending proposals to be funded under this framework.
The Nirbhaya fund was set up in 2013 by the UPA government to improve the safety and security of women in the aftermath of the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedic student, who came to be known as Nirbhaya, on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, in a moving bus in Delhi by six persons. The woman was severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road. She succumbed to her injuries days later at a Singapore hospital.
Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi recently appealed to the government to immediately allocate the entire unspent amount from the Nirbhaya fund for the protection of rape victims and witnesses.
"For how long will rape victims be burnt alive and witnesses turn hostile while MPs debate on level of security cover for politicians," he had said.
His organisation, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation, urged the Centre and the state governments to treat the recent incidents of rape as a wake-up call and immediately initiate "on a war footing" steps to make public spaces safe and secure for women.
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Sonia Gandhi's attempt to launch Rahul from Raebareli will fail: Amit Shah
Hukkeri (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh after running away from Amethi and predicted that he will lose the polls there against the BJP candidate by a huge margin.
He also said former AICC President Sonia Gandhi's multiple attempts to "launch" Rahul Gandhi had failed and claimed that this was the twenty-first attempt.
The top BJP leader addressed a public meeting here in Belagavi district for party candidate from Chikkodi Lok Sabha segment Annasaheb Jolle.
"Modi ji tried and at once Chandrayaan (mission to Moon) got launched. Sonia Gandhi has launched this 'yaan' named Rahul Baba (Rahul Gandhi) twenty times, but her launching has not been successful. Today for the twenty-first time, running away from Amethi, he has filed nomination from Raebareli," Shah said.
He said, "Rahul Baba, I'm telling the result of Raebareli from here. Against BJP's candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh, you will lose by a huge margin. Write down my words."
Rahul Gandhi is contesting the elections from the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades.
Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the party said in a statement on Friday.
The two seats will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election.
Ending days of suspense, the party announced the candidates from the two seats on Friday.
Raebareli is a constituency which had earlier elected Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi, his grandmother Indira Gandhi and his grandfather Feroze Gandhi.
The constituency has also been represented by family members and friends of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Rahul Gandhi has also contested the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala which went to polls on April 26.
