WCD minister Maneka Gandhi had assured that the centres would be open by December. Photo: Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The much talked about “one stop crisis centre” — conceived in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case and the Justice Verma report — has been scrapped by the NDA government. The project worth about Rs 200 crore was expected to provide medical, legal, police and emergency services to women in distress.

In June this year, the women and child development (WCD) ministry, headed by Maneka Gandhi had announced that one-stop rape crisis centres will be made functional by the year end in all districts of the country.

The centres were supposed to provide medical, legal, and police aid to women who are victims of rape and sexual assault.”These will provide short stay for the women in need and will be equipped with ambulance services which will reach women who need help. Funds, Maneka added, have been allocated for the project, partly from the Nirbhaya fund and the centres will be run by the central government,” The Indian Express had earlier reported.

According to TOI, “the plan has been shot down by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on the argument that the scheme was unnecessary and services could be provided through the existing infrastructure like hospitals and women police stations.”

“WCD ministry sources however pointed out that there were many scenarios when women who were stalked, molested, raped or experienced violence and could not or were not willing to go to a police station. “They require only shelter or counseling. The centre promises anonymity to the victim. It would have acted as an overnight shelter while making all the services of a hospital, police station, legal aid cell under one roof,’’ sources said. The cost of a centre was pitched at Rs 36 lakh,” the paper reports.