The Centre has released Rs 9.01 crore to Meghalaya out of the total approved amount of Rs 9.02 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund to help the State run the One Stop Centres.
It may be noted that the Central government is implementing several projects for the safety of women under the Nirbhaya Fund scheme through the states and union territories.
Under the Nirbhaya Fund, one of the schemes namely ‘One Stop Centre Scheme’ has been implemented in all districts across the country since April 1, 2015.
In Meghalaya, One Stop Centres have been set up in eleven districts of the State to deal with violence against women and enable the general public to recognise the critical issues of violence and other forms of gender based discriminations that women continue to suffer in society.
One Stop Centres aim to facilitate women affected by violence with a range of integrated services under one roof such as police facilitation, medical aid, providing legal and psycho-social counselling and temporary shelter.
One Stop Centres are to be set up within two kms radius of the hospitals or medical facilities either in newly constructed buildings in an approved design or in pre-existing buildings.
So far, 704 One Stop Centres have been operationalised across the country and more than three lakh women have been assisted through them.
The total amount under the Nirbhaya Fund for 36 states and union territories is Rs 3856.70 crore. The total amount released to all the states is Rs 2282.59 crore.
The funds are released to the states and union territories as per project guidelines in installments. It also depends on the demand specific to each project. Therefore, the states are not ranked in terms of spending.