'300 more One Stop Centres to come up soon to help women affected by violence'

Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday said 300 more One Stop Centres OSCs intended to support women affected by violence will be opened soon across the countryShe said womens health and empowerment have become an integral part of the central governments programmes and policiesSpeaking at a zonal conference of states and different stakeholders from the western region in Mumbai the minister said 704 One Stop Centres are functioning in the country at present and in collaboration with womens helpline 70 lakh women in distress have received support from governments both the Centre and states combinedThree hundred more One Stop Centres would be opened soon she saidOne Stop Centres OSCs opened under a scheme launched by the Women and Child Development Ministry are intended to support women affected by violence in private and public spaces within family community and at the workplaceThe minister said through the Nirbhaya Fund various projects worth Rs 9000 crore have been implemented between 201421 for the safety and security of womenIrani said womens health and empowerment have become an integral part of government programmes and policies stressing the Centre is committed to protect the selfrespect of women by addressing challenges faced by them with a multisectoral approachThe focus of the conference was on three important topics Mission Poshan 20 relating to nutrition of women and children Mission Shakti relating to safety and security of women and Mission Vatsalya which is aimed at securing a happy and healthy childhood for every childReferring to the Union Budget for 202223 presented in February Irani said the allocation for womenrelated programmes has increased by 14 per centThe Union Budget for 202223 has allocated Rs 171 lakh crore for women in our country We are the first government and the country which has integrated the gender component in our intergovernmental fiscal transfers she addedThe minister said over 11 lakh toilets built under the Swachch Bharat Mission have ensured that every day of women starts with cleanlinessIrani further said separate toilets for girls have been built in more than 4 lakh government schools within a year In the absence of separate toilets the drop out ratio of girl students was as high as 23 per cent earlierThe minister said Ayushman Bharat a flagship scheme of the Centre has widened the healthcare coverage across the country and it has witnessed women footfall of 45 croreInitially it was said that women because of sociocultural constraints would not come forward for treatment of breast cancer or cervical cancer etc But the skeptics have been proven wrong and nearly 7 crore women have got themselves screened and those in need of medical care are undergoing treatment she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever