Parliamentary panel on home praises UP, Rajasthan models

The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs praised the efforts made by the Uttar Pradesh government in tackling cases of violence against women while recommending that more One-Stop Centres are needed across the country to help women in distress.

“The committee appreciates the initiatives, like interlinking of various departments and creation of a single-window system to help women victims of violence, taken by the state government of Uttar Pradesh,” said the report of the panel headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma.

It recommended that other states should also “establish such synergy and coordination amongst various departments concerned with the safety and security of women and children”.


Noting that there was a sudden spurt in domestic violence and trafficking of women and children during the Covid-19 pandemic, the panel also recommended that the home ministry advise states to open at least one One-Stop Centre at every sub-divisional level.

The women and child development ministry has already introduced the scheme of such centres in every district of the country to help women affected by violence with five services — police assistance, medical treatment, legal aid, psychological counselling and temporary shelter — all under one roof.

The committee recommended that the home ministry take up the matter with the ministry of social justice and empowerment and look at ways of providing permanent housing, livelihood, education and safety, including free legal support for the rehabilitation of the survivors of caste and gender-based violence.

Raising the concern that women constitute only 10.3% of the police force, the panel also noted that in many cases crimes against women and children are not registered at the police station in time, leading to delay in court procedures. It appreciated initiatives taken by the Rajasthan Police “for conducting decoy operations to check whether FIRs are being registered at police stations or not”.