Manipur : Minister highlights effectiveness of ‘Women Helpline’

22 July 2018:

Manipur Social Welfare Minister Nemcha Kipgen said the women helpline, implemented in the state, received nearly 266 cases where 95 per cent of the cases had been solved since its launch a year ago.

Speaking at the National Conference of Ministers in Charge of Women and Child Development at a programme in New Delhi on Saturday, she said the state had also initiated the Mahila Shakti Kendra for the development of women.

She stressed that there was a need for inter-linking of Women Helpline of all states for inter-state referral services and a system was required to incorporate in the Swadhar homes for ensuring the inheritance of property rights for the destitute women for their empowerment.

“To ensure women safety, a specific scheme for imparting self- defence classes to all female students and young women from class VI onwards should be incorporated...Provision for women toilets along National Highways should be made compulsory for protection of women”, Kipgen insisted.

“All Child Care Institutes (CCIs) in the state are registered under Juvenile Justice Act and all the children in the CCI are Aadhaar- enrolled. The Legal-cum-Probation officers are designated as child marriage prohibition officers, thereby causing a convergence between JJ Act, POCSO Act and child marriage prohibition Act. These have helped to prevent over 25 cases of child marriage,” she said.

On the issue of adoption, the Minister proposed for having separate seniority list for prospective adoptive parents for every state or at least region since each and every state has its own socio-cultural environment.

She informed that Manipur was in the process of implementing Poshan Abiyaan in a full-fledged manner. The ground work is already in full force. PMMVY has also been implemented effectively reaching out to the most interior parts of the state. The revamped Anganwadi services is also being effectively implemented in the state and are also in the process of creating model Anganwadi centres in all the projects to make it a people’s movement, she said.

At the same time, she highlighted some concerns for Manipur. She proposed that separate fund allotment be made for the construction of Anganwadi centres till it was saturated fully.