Congress Criticizes Modi Government's Record on Women's Safety and Welfare

The Congress attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rhetoric on his commitment to serving "Nari Shakti" on Monday by highlighting the rise in crimes against women and the declining budgetary assistance for women's welfare programs.

It charged Smriti Irani, the minister of women's and child development, with being indifferent to the safety and well-being of women.

"The number of crimes against women and children has doubled." According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau of the government, almost 35 lakh incidents have been registered between 2014 and 2022. Congress Communications Chief Jairam Ramesh made this statement.

"4.5 lakh cases were reported in 2022 compared to 2.4 lakh reported crimes in 2012." According to Ramesh, the number of POCSO (child sex abuse) instances nearly doubled in just five years, from 32.6 thousand in 2017 to 63.4 thousand in 2022.

He said that just 33% of the designated Nirbhaya Fund for women's protection had been utilized by the Modi administration as of 2022.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has observed nothing but ineptitude, indifference, and a mindset hostile to women during the past ten years. The minister's ministry diverts money away from important programs and industrious women, Ramesh added, while she stays silent while women throughout India are abused and only wakes up for crimes in states controlled by the opposition.

"The power-mad The politics of the Modi regime come first, even if it means women's safety is compromised. While Brij Bhushan (Sharan) Singh was being protected, the BJP violently put an end to female wrestlers who were opposing his sexual harassment.

"They released the Bilkis Bano rapists who had been found guilty; the Supreme Court even intervened to declare this to be clearly "illegal." They make them MPs and MLAs, constantly sharing platforms with rapists and showering them with flowers. The BJP has rendered women's safety in India insecure, from Kathua to Hathras.

"Only 0.55 per cent of the Union budget was allocated towards Anganwadi, nutritional schemes, women's security, and child care institutions," Ramesh added, pointing to the declining funding for women's welfare programs.

The MWCD's portion of the Union budget has been less than 0.75 percent for the last four years, thus this pattern is not new. The WCD Ministry's budget increased by 20.7% annually throughout the ten years of the UPA. The growth rate is now only 3.4% under the anti-women Modi government.

Ramesh continued, "The Modi government readily arranged for friends to receive corporate tax breaks worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore and bank loan waivers worth Rs 16 lakh crore, but they refused to provide funding for schools to serve breakfast to pupils.

"Neither the education minister nor the minister of women and child development was able to persuade their own administration that feeding our children should be a national priority. Even Anganwadi laborers receive inadequate pay and are not provided with basic amenities.

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