The Nirbhaya Fund was created in 2013 in the aftermath of December 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case. The victim was then given a name, Nirbhaya (which literally means fearless). People took to streets for weeks not only in Delhi but also in the far-flung areas.
Giving in to popular sentiments, the government announced a separate fund for meeting expenditures to ensure the safety of women. It was announced by then Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who was released from jail on Wednesday after 106 days in connection with alleged malfeasance committed during his stay in the finance ministry.
The government proposed an allocation of Rs 10,000 crore under Nirbhaya Fund to ensure safety of women. But hardly any woman can today claim that Nirbhaya Fund has made her fearless.
The horrific gangrape and murder of a woman veterinarian in Telangana, and similar incidents in Bihar, Rajasthan and Karnataka indicate that women are as unsafe and fearful today as they were on the eve of Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.
WHAT's HAPPENING WITH NIRBHAYA FUND?
Under the Nirbhaya Fund the Centre gives money to the states, which in turn spend it on programmes meant for ensuring women's safety.
The Women and Child Development Ministry is the nodal agency for expenditure from the Nirbhaya Fund. Earlier, it was the one releasing the funds but now it examines the programmes submitted to it by the states under Nirbhaya scheme, approves them and recommends to the department of economic affairs for allocating funds.
According to the latest data, presented in Parliament by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani in November - in the wake of questions raised over safety and security of women following the Hyderabad gangrape and murder case - the ministry has allocated Rs 2,050 crore to various states from the Nirbhaya Fund.
The Union home ministry on its part has released Rs 1,656 crore in the last five years to states and Union Territories. But the utilisation rate of Nirbhaya Fund has been very dismal.
For the funds released by the Union Women and Child Development Ministry, only about 20 per cent has been used by the states. In the case of Union home ministry, the states have submitted utilisation certificates of less than 9 per cent money released under Nirbhaya Fund - Rs 146.98 crore of Rs 1,656.71 crore, respectively, in the past five years.
Underutilisation of Nirbhaya Fund by the states has put the Centre in a very convenient position with Smriti Irani rightly putting the blame on the states. She said, "The Nirbhaya Fund was set up to help rape victims and ensure their rehabilitation. But the formulation of policies is one subject and their implementation is another."
THE FAULT LINE
Data tabled by Irani in Parliament on November 29 show that six states and UTs - Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura and Daman & Diu - have not spent a single rupee from the Nirbhaya Fund allocated by the Union home ministry.
Big state like Maharashtra had been under the BJP rule for five years, from 2014 to 2019. Yet the BJP-led government of the Centre could not put enough pressure on Maharashtra, which recorded 4,306 incidents of assault on women in 2017 - fourth highest in the country; second highest cases of kidnapping of women and sixth highest number of rape.
Telangana, where the 26-year-old vet was gangraped 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 Nirbhaya Fund for 13 programme including the Emergency Response Scheme.
Just for record, the family of Hyderabad gangrape victim told the National Commission for Women (NCW) that police wasted time in responding to their complaint saying "she must have eloped" with someone.
The department of justice of the central government to contributes to the Nirbhaya Fund. None of the states has utilised any fund allocated to them by the department of justice, according to the Centre's reply in Parliament.
The women and child development ministry release money from the Nirbhaya Fund under four heads including the Mahila Police Volunteer Scheme. A total of 12 states were allocated fund under this scheme.
Smriti Irani's reply does specify if other states submitted a similar programme or not. But of the 12 states, only four states utilised the Nirbhaya Fund money for the said purpose. The rest did not spend a penny. Telangana's name does not figure under this head in the minister's reply.
The lawmakers-in both states and Parliament-have tried to echo the sentiments of people hitting the streets demanding justice for the Hyderabad gangrape victim and others like her. But those who are part of the governments have failed to fulfil the promises made during the Nirbhaya protests and creation of the Nirbhaya Fund.
Making women of India fearless through the Nirbhaya Fund has remained a hollow promise, a mere lip service with little substance.