Government to set up over 500 more One Stop Centres for women affected by violence

Two hundred and thirty-two One Stop Centres (OSCs) intended to support women affected by violence, proposed under the Nirbhaya Fund, have been set up till date under the scheme since April 2015. The government plans to set them up in all districts of the country, officials familiar with the development, said.

Establishment of the OSCs was a key component of the Nirbhaya Fund. OSCs facilitate services like police assistance, psycho-social counselling and provide temporary stay for five days for violence-hit women.

“We are trying to ensure that we set up OSCs in all 718 districts in the country. Right now, 232 have been established and 536 are approved to be set up. We aim to take necessary approvals and expedite it,” a senior official at the ministry of women and child development, said.

The National Commission of Women (NCW) is also conducting a nation-wide survey of implementation of women-centric central government schemes. According to NCW, the OSC scheme has been found to be performing well in all the states which have been audited till now. “ We have completed our survey in three states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. We plan to cover all the states within a year. We have found OSCs have been established in all three,” Rekha Sharma, chief, NCW, said.