Proposed fund for Manodhairya scheme drops from Rs 80 cr in 2018-19 to Rs 30 cr in 2019-20

This comes at a time when the proposed expenditure for select schemes of the government like the construction of hostels, protection homes, and shelter homes for women, Shubh Mangal Samuhik Vivah Yojana and protection of women from domestic violence — has increased.

The Economic Survey data also show that crimes against women had increased from 35,497 cases in 2018 to 37,567 in 2019 (provisional numbers). According to the state’s Crime Investigation Department records, cases of rape increased from 4,974 in 2018 to 5,412 in 2019.

The Indian Express had reported in 2018 that the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority had issued guidelines, based on which the District Legal Services Authority had begun implementing the clause under which victims of rape, sexual abuse and acid attacks, who avail of the Manodhairya scheme, may have to face proceedings for recovery of the compensation awarded to them if it is found that “any relevant fact” shared during the inquiry was false.

The Manodhairya scheme underwent a series of revisions in December 2017. Besides the clause on the recovery of the compensation sum, there are also additional documents to be submitted to avail the scheme, including the victim’s statement recorded before a magistrate, a clause that had already begun to cause delays in accessing compensation.

According to the data from the Office of the Commissioner of Women and Child Development and the Deputy Commissioner, Planning, Divisional Commissionerate, the state incurred an expenditure of Rs 7.85 crore under the Manodhairya scheme in 2018-19, while it shelled out Rs 3.44 crore until October 2019.

In 2013, the Maharashtra government had issued a Government Resolution (GR) to launch its victim compensation scheme, Manodhairya. On August 1, 2017, the scheme was revised through another GR after the Bombay High Court directed the government to increase the compensation amount awarded to victims.