MHA approves disbursement of Rs. 7 cr funds to set up women's help desks in 700 police stations in Maharashtra

In a bid to give a boost to women's safety and security measures across the state, the Ministry of Home Affairs has given the approval to distribute funds of Rs. 7 crore for the scheme of setting up women's help desks in 700 police stations in Maharashtra.

"The state government has now given approval for disbursement of the said funds. In order to purchase the material and equipment, guidelines have been given to the Industries, Energy and Labour department," said a home department official.

It has been ordered that under any circumstances, the funds should not be kept in unused or in parked condition. The utilisation certificate of the funds has to be submitted to the government, officials said.

"Additional Director General of Police (Planning & Coordination) has been appointed as the nodal officer to ensure the use of the funds for the required scheme," said the official.

Earlier, in order to give a boost to the women's safety and security measures in Mumbai, the state government had given approval for disbursement funds of Rs 46.65 crores for Mumbai CCTV Surveillance Project under Surveillance Components and Sensitisation Training and Capacity Building under Mumbai City Women's Security Initiative Scheme (Nirbhaya).

In January this year, the state government had given approval for disbursement of Rs 31.87 crore for the purchase of Public Address System, Emergency Vehicle Response System and IT equipment under the said initiative.