Under-utilisation of the ‘Nirbhaya’ fund, meant for the protection of women in the country, is nothing short of a crime. The non-lapsable corpus fund was created after the infamous Nirbhaya rape and murder case in 2012, which shook the conscience of the entire nation cutting across all borders. The tragedy forced changes in the penal code and steps were initiated to prevent such heinous crimes in the future. The ‘Nirbhaya’ fund was created with the sole aim to make the country a safer place for women. But nearly a decade after the brutal incident, it has been found that of the INR 9,549 crore fund only INR 2,989 crore has been spent so far to ensure the safety of the women in the country. The figure only proves that the country is not at all sincere in providing security to its daughters and this is why despite stringent laws and adequate funds, women are still unsafe in India. Numbers of rapes and molestations are increasing with every passing day as the authorities are in a slumber. It will be better if the authorities concerned educate all sections of society against sexual assault and mete out harsh punishment on offenders that will deter them from future offences. Indian culture has always spoken in favour of gender equality and since time immemorial women have held important positions in Indian society but the current social atmosphere does not reflect the same. Up till today, the country has failed to make adequate security arrangements for women.
India has now ceased to be a safe place for women as we are more interested in cosmetic measures than taking concrete steps. This is why the ‘Nirbhaya’ fund is still lying under-utilised, the fund was meant to install CCTV cameras in places frequented by women to ensure real time action; creation of police stations manned by only women so that the victims of sexual assault can freely narrate the ordeal they have gone through. Clearly, we haven’t achieved these objectives, it is evident from the fact that crimes against women are on the rise. Thus, it’s time to take an aggressive approach to prevent crime against women. While the ‘Nirbhaya’ fund should be utilised properly to make necessary security arrangements for women in the country, more weightage should be given to educate people about gender equality. Sex ratio in our country is pathetic, efforts should be made to improve it by preventing female foeticide. Experts have blamed poor sex ratio as one of the reasons behind increased number of atrocities against women in the country. In this context, it should be remembered that education on gender equality is the best way to curb this menace. Moreover, the country should adopt a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the projects on a regular basis, aimed to protect and elevate the daughters of the nation.