The Maharashtra government has approved the setup of temporary shelters and counselling centres for women and children who face abuse. These centres will come up in 104 police stations across eight districts and will offer short-term shelter, legal help, and mental health support.
The centres will be managed by selected non-governmental organisations. The government will provide full funding. The decision was taken on February 20 during a State Level Steering Committee meeting chaired by the assistant chief secretary of the home department.
Nine NGOs have been chosen through a government resolution to run these shelters. Wardha district will have two NGOs. Palghar, Satara, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Buldhana, Nagpur, and Amravati will each have one NGO.
The women and child development department will oversee the entire scheme. As per reports, survivors of abuse often approach police stations first, and police officers usually give basic counselling and take survivors to shelter homes.
The new model will add formal units inside police stations. These units will be better equipped and work in a decentralised manner. Each centre will be placed inside a police station building. They will be supervised by the district women and child development officer and the police superintendent.
The centres will have trained counsellors. These counsellors will have master’s degrees in social work. They will help survivors with filing police complaints and accessing medical services. They will also offer trauma counselling. The state government will pay these counsellors directly through bank transfers. The money will not go through NGOs.
This comes after the state’s existing One-Stop Crisis Centres were criticised. These centres are based in hospitals and support victims of rape and molestation. A 2023 report by the state women’s commission found several issues in these centres. Most of them lacked proper staff, 24-hour service, and police coordination.
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