The Women and Child Development Department’ s novel Aashwasanidhi programme may bring relief to a 17-year-old girl who was brutally stabbed reportedly by a jilted lover and has remained in a partially paralysed state at Government Medical College, Kalamasserry, since then.
The girl who suffered as many stabs as her age in the broad daylight attack near Infopark on January 6 has been advised advanced treatment at Velloor for full recovery and return to normal life. Though there is an upper limit of ₹5 lakh under the Aashwasanidhi programme, the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO), one of the nodal officers for the programme, the other being Women Protection Officer (WPO), has made an exception and recommended unlimited assistance as her medical treatment may warrant.
The director of the Women and Child Development Department will, however, decide whether to approve the recommendation sent by the DCPO to the Nirbhaya cell under the Department.
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“We have so far distributed ₹6 lakh in two different cases in the district since the programme was launched last year. In one case, a mother and three children who came under acid attack while sleeping at their home at Ramamangalam last year were granted a total aid of ₹5 lakh – ₹2 lakh to the mother and ₹1 lakh each to the three children. Another ₹1 lakh was granted to the family of a teenage girl who died after being set ablaze at her home in January,” said K.B. Zaina, DCPO, Ernakulam.
The Aashwasanidhi programme has been allocated an annual budget of ₹3 crore and potential beneficiaries are broadly classified into four categories – victims of sexual violence, acid attack, domestic violence, and heinous gender violence.
The kind of violence perpetrated against the victims is further classified into eight different categories – sexual assault of minors registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, rape/gang rape/unnatural sexual offence, loss of life, grievous physical or mental injury due to domestic violence, women and children rescued from trafficking, pregnancy on account of rape, loss of any limb or body part. The extent of assistance broadly ranges between ₹50,000 and ₹2 lakh in all these cases.
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“Once the case is brought to our notice, we secure the First Information Reports from the Station House Officers concerned. Later, we conduct house visits to collect first hand information and secure medical reports and details of bank accounts of victims and their guardians,” said Ms. Zaina.
All these documents along with the recommendation of DCPO/WPO are then sent to the Nirbhaya Cell, which sanctions the assistance.