J&K High Court satisfied with govt measures for domestic violence victims

J&K High Court satisfied with govt measures for domestic violence victims

Srinagar: The J&K High Court expressed satisfaction over the measures taken by the government to mitigate the sufferings of victims of domestic violence including women, elderly persons, children and transgenders.
The court of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajnesh Oswal expressed satisfaction after a detailed report was filed by social welfare department (SWD) about the measures taken amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The court said that the respondents have taken substantial steps to mitigate the sufferings of victims of domestic violence.
But the Court ordered SWD to ensure that wide publicity is given to schemes identified for assisting the victims of violence including women, elderly persons, child abuse and transgenders so that they are made aware of the availability of the assistance.
The department in its report said that Anganwadi workers are being used to establish ‘one stop centres’ providing counselling, legal aid, medical aid, temporary shelters and Helpline 181 for tackling the menace of domestic violence at all times.
It said that J&K has a total 28,000 Anganwadi workers in and each Anganwadi Centre looks after approximately 400-500 households.
“These workers are tasked with providing supplementary nutrition and pre-school education to children at Anganwadi Centres.
“They carry out surveys of all families, especially mothers and children in their respective areas of work, make home visits in discharge of their duties and maintain liaison with other institutions including Mahila Mandals. All these assist in mitigating issues arising out of violence,” the report said.
The report said Department of Disaster Management Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction has designated 10 beds in each district quarantine centre exclusively for domestic violence victims.
Additionally, 5 beds in district quarantine centre have been reserved for other victims of violence including children, transgender, elderly and persons with disabilities, it said.
“Also funds up to Rs 10 lac per district out of SDRF have been allocated for victims of domestic violence while Rs 2 lac per district out of SDRF have been allocated for other victims of violence- children, transgender and elderly persons,” it added.
The court was also informed through the report that ‘One Stop Centres’ are being developed in accordance with the Guidelines issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development.
“As per these Guidelines, first line workers such as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are involved for furthering the cause of women in distress,” it said.
It was told to court that there are about 11,987 such workers functional at the ground level.
A report, meanwhile, regarding litigations concerning domestic violence cases in 20 districts was submitted before court by the Member Secretary, JK Legal Services Authority.
The court after perusing the report mentioned that in many cases, orders of maintenance appear to have been passed, but the complainants have not received payments of maintenance on account of lockdown.
“Efforts should be made by the District Legal Services Authorities to ascertain the welfare of the persons who had sought maintenance and those not granted may be in need of assistance,” the court said.
The court directed Jammu and Kashmir State Legal Services Authority to continue to assist needy people under its programmes.
The court directed Assistant Solicitor General of India (ASGI), Tahir Majid Shamsi to submit a report regarding the mechanism which has been evolved in Ladakh to meet the needs of victims of domestic violence, elder abuse, child violence and violence against transgenders.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.