Mission Shakti

Mission Shakti

News: The Supreme Court has sought more information from the government about Mission Shakti, an umbrella scheme for the safety, security, and empowerment of women.

Background:
 It comes after recent backdrop where concerns were raised about a possible shortage of protection officers to handle domestic violence cases.

What is Mission Shakti?
 Mission Shakti’ is a scheme of Ministry of Women and Child Development aimed at strengthening interventions for women safety, security and empowerment.
 It seeks to realise the Government’s commitment for “women-led development‟ by addressing issues affecting women on a life-cycle continuum basis and by making them equal partners in nation-building through convergence and citizen-ownership.
 It has two sub-schemes - 'Sambal' and 'Samarthya'. While the 'Sambal' sub-scheme is for safety and security of women, the 'Samarthya' sub-scheme is for empowerment of women.
 The components of 'Sambal' sub-scheme consist of erstwhile schemes of One Stop Centre (OSC), Women Helpline (WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) with a new component of Nari Adalats - women's collectives to promote and facilitate alternative dispute resolution and gender justice in society and within families.
 The components of 'Samarthya' sub-scheme consist of erstwhile schemes of Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel have been included with modifications.
 In addition, the existing schemes of National Creche Scheme for children of working mothers and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana under umbrella ICDS have now been included in Samarthya.
 A new component of Gap Funding for Economic Empowerment has also been added in the Samarthya Scheme.

What concerns were raised regarding Domestic Violence?
 According to a government document presented in court, 4.4 lakh cases of domestic assault are pending across 801 districts.
 While most of these districts have one-stop centres to assist victims under Mission Shakti, it remains unclear how many of them actually have protection officers to effectively support survivors.
 Under Section 8 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the appointment of protection officers is mandatory.
 Protection officers, who should ideally be women, have a pivotal role under the law. They help victims file complaints, give Information to the police, provide immediate protection and support, inform victims about their legal rights and support them through court proceedings.