Is Delhi's women victims’ rehabilitation scheme being properly implemented?
22 Dec, 2013
An application was filed with the Delhi government under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details about its Rs. 15 crore compensation scheme meant to help in the rehabilitation of women victims of rape, acid attack, trafficking, child abuse, etc. Under the scheme, the Divisional Commissioner operates the fund and Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) is empowered to decide the amount for compensation.
The reply to the application shows that only around 24 women have received the benefits of the scheme in past two years. Further, the fund disbursing authority i.e. the office of the Divisional Commissioner of Delhi doesn't have complete record of the number of beneficiaries. The Divisional Commissioner said that his office had allotted the fund to deputy commissioners who disburse the amount and that all data is maintained by individual district commissioners who make the payments.
However, only 8 sub districts out of 65 have provided information and the data given in the reply shows that till now only a total of Rs. 30 lakh has been disbursed to 24 women victims. The applicant said that 10 victims in the East district alone haven't received any relief even after 6 months of the incident.
In the wake of December 16 gangrape, the DSLSA had submitted to the government recommendations to expedite the process of getting relief, but no further action has been taken on the draft.