With the aim to help all women suffering violence in some form or the other, at home or outside, the Rajanna Sircilla district police of Telangana opened Sakhi–a one stop centre for assistance. A new building was dedicated to this purpose to provide all kinds of assistance to women at a single place.
The main objective of the centre is to provide integrated support to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces, under one roof. Women facing physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and economic abuse, irrespective of age, class, caste, education status, marital status, race and culture, will find support and redressal here.
Indian Masterminds spoke with SP (City), RajannaSircilla, Rahul Hegde, IPS, to know more about the Sakhi Centre.
A ONE STOP CENTRE
Explaining about the facilities provided by the centre, the 2014-batch IPS officer said that there is a helpline – 181 – like Dial 100. Even when women related issues come to dial 100, it is integrated to 181 and connected to that number. There are basically 5 kinds of services provided in the Sakhi centre.
- Legal service. A woman is provided with a legal counsellor who guides them.
- Counselling on marital problems or psychological issues.
- Medical help for victims of violence, rape, etc.
- Temporary shelter. Women suffering from domestic violence or thrown out of home are provided shelter.
- Police services. An officer is assigned to hear and take action against complaints by women victims.
“When women-related issues come, we refer them to Sakhi centre because women feel much more comfortable there. There are experts there who deal with these women in a better way. For instance, if someone needs counselling, then we might not have counsellor in the police station. But in the Sakhi centre, we have all such facilities. So,it is a one stop centre to help women in distress,” SP Rahul Hegde said.
WHO MANAGES IT
The Sakhi Centre is monitored by a state Steering and Monitoring Committee at the apex, a District-level Management Committee, and a Project Management Unit.The staff for the centre are recruited and supervised by NGOs in their capacity as implementation/support agencies.
MORE CENTRES TO COME UP
SP Hegde also informed that more Sakhi Centres like the present one will be set up in the district.The Centre at Rajanna Sircilla was inaugurated on November 15, 2019 with the Nirbhaya Fund, established by the central government to set up one stop welfare centres for women victims of any form of violence in every district of India.
