Centre ready to launch rape crisis centres: Maneka Gandhi

CHENNAI: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi today said the Centre was ready to launch Rape Crisis Centres across the country that would offer a range of support services for women victims of molestation.

"To begin with, there will be one Rape Crisis Centre per district. We are ready and we are waiting for yes from the rest of the government ( RPT) government," she said indicating concurrence from several other Central ministries.

"Women need to be protected in many ways and there are no superficial solutions," she told reporters after participating a book release function here.

"Women have to be given protection in many ways like education, employment, more specialised policing and rape crisis centres," she said, adding, the government was working in different ways through various ministries to achieve this.

The proposed Rape Crisis Centres intend to offer medical and legal services besides police help to victims of rape and sexual assault. The facilities were likely to be linked to a national helpline.

Earlier, she released a book "Sacred plants of India," authored by Nanditha Krishna and M Amirthalingam under the auspices of CPR Environmental Education Centre.

"All plants in our country are sacred...they serve many purposes including medicinal and culinary."

Stating that "we are lucky to have so much biodiverity" in the country, she expressed sadness in the shrinking of biodiversity day by day.

"This book is valuable. We have to record every single bit of history in terms of nature so that we can get a big picture of India."

Referring to her visit to Italy some years ago, she said a village commune had been engaged in scientific research and they had documented even the speech of plants.

"I saw it myself and heard. They have made a machine which you attach to plants and hear them speak", the minister said.

Renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan received the first copy of the book.