76% Nirbhaya Funds Utilised Since 2015, But Just 9% Reduction In Reported Rape Cases Across India

The RG Kar rape-murder case in Kolkata has invited much needed and serious discussions over women safety in India, with the focus being on the alarming number of sexual assault cases being reported in India.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, on Tuesday, also noted that “the nation can’t await another rape for real changes on ground” during the Suo-moto hearing on the Kolkata rape case, coming down heavily on the West Bengal government for alleged inaction.

However, the bigger question still remains as to how things have changed on ground, ever since an Empowered Committee was set up in 2015, to formulate and streamline funding under the Nirbhaya fund.

The Nirbhaya fund was initially set up in 2013, after the infamous Nirbhaya Gangrape case in 2012, with an aim to improve women safety across India.

An Empowered Committee was set up on October 26, 2015 to appraise and recommend proposals to be funded under Nirbhaya Fund, as per the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Since then, there has been an average of 28,972 cases per year, approximately 63.5 cases per day.

RAPE CASES SINCE THE COMMITTEE WAS SET UP [Source: NCRB]

2015 : 34,651 (Per Day: 94.2)

2016 : 38,947 (Per Day: 106.0)

2017 : 32,559 (Per Day: 89.0)

2018 : 33,356 (Per Day: 91.6)

2019 : 32,033 (Per Day: 87.6)

2020 : 28,046 (Per Day: 76.7)

2021 : 31,677 (Per Day: 86.5)

2022 : 31,516 (Per Day: 86.0)

Ever since 2015, there has merely been a decrease of 9.1 per cent, in the number of rape cases in India, with the numbers staying more or less the same between 2019 and 2022, barring the year 2020, when the number of reported cases dropped drastically.

The Government of India, as per its answer to Lok Sabha given on August 2, 2024, has allotted a total of Rs 7212.85 crore to the Nirbhaya fund, of which, Rs 5,512.97 crore or nearly 76 per cent has been utilised by different states and ministries.

Following is the state-wise breakdown as given by the Government of India in its answer to the Lok Sabha on February 10, 2023

West Bengal, which is among the highest utilisers of Nirbhaya fund, comes at the 11th rank, with 1,111 reported rapes in 2022, as per data collated by NCRB.

It is to be noted that the NCRB only gives out the data that is provided by the states to the Central Government.