This Article is From Mar 04, 2014

Delhi women's helpline hit by cash crunch, political turmoil

New Delhi: The 24-hour 'Nirbhaya' helpline for women in the capital, launched shortly after a fatal gang rape in December 2012 sparked nationwide protests, is at risk of closing due to a lack of funds and political upheaval, its chief said on Tuesday.

The 181 helpline, set up to address sexual harassment and violence against women in Delhi, is plagued by delays in payment of staff wages and uncertainty about its future, said Khadijah Faruqui.

A power vacuum resulting from the resignation last month of anti-graft campaigner Arvind Kejriwal, after a brief spell as chief minister, has made matters worse. The city is now under direct presidential rule.

"It's the kind of issue (where) we didn't get salaries," Ms Faruqui, a women's rights activist, told Reuters.

She said a top government official in charge of Delhi had reassured her that all the helpline's problems would be addressed: "He said: 'Give me two days and I'll resolve all these issues.'"

The hotline receives about 55,000 calls a month and is connected to three lines, said Faruqui.

Women needing help can dial 181, and a counsellor will transfer the call to government agencies, NGOs, hospitals or the police.

The hotline logs 86 percent of the crimes against women recorded by the Delhi police, Faruqui said.

Former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit condemned the helpline's neglect as a sign of "insensitivity towards women," and vowed to take it up with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.

"This is a very retrograde step. There should be some number that women can go to... some number when needed," she said today.

The fatal attack in 2012, in which the victim was raped for an hour and tortured with an iron rod on a moving bus, became a symbol of the dangers women face in India.
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