On Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said that women safety is a high priority for the Govt & several initiatives have been taken for the safety of women across India.

In a written response to a question regarding crime against women, the Minister listed various initiatives taken by the Govt. for women's safety across the nation.

"The Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 was enacted for effective deterrence against sexual offenses. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted to prescribe even more stringent penal provisions including the death penalty for rape of a girl below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation & trials within 2 months each," Reddy said in his reply in Lok Sabha.

"'Emergency Response Support System' provides a pan-India, single, internationally recognized number (112) based system for all emergencies, with the computer-aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress," his letter read.

He also added that 'Safe City Projects' have been sanctioned in the first Phase in 8 cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, & Mumbai.

It further read that "The Ministry of Home Affairs has launched a cyber-crime portal on 20th September 2018 for citizens to report obscene content. It has launched the 'National Database on Sexual Offenders' (NDSO) on 20th September 2018 to facilitate investigation & tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies".

An online analytics tool for police called 'Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences' to monitor & track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018 was launched on Feb 19 this year to facilitate states/Union Territories, he stated.

He added, "One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme is being implemented across the country since April 1, 2015, which is exclusively designed to provide integrated services such as medical aid, police assistance, legal counselling/court case management, psycho-social counselling & temporary shelter to women affected by violence under one roof".

Around 728 OSCs have been approved by the Govt. of India & around 595 OSCs are operational in the nation, he noted.

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