NEW DELHI: The empowered committee for approving projects under the Nirbhaya Fund on Friday cleared the proposal for setting up 1,023 fast track courts to dispose of pending cases of rape and those registered under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act. The proposal of the ministry of law and justice is estimated to cost Rs 767.25 crore.

In the first phase there are plans to set up 777 fast track courts in nine states and 246 courts will be set up in the second phase. The empowered committee chaired by secretary women and child development Rakesh Srivastava has also approved a proposal of the ministry of home affairs for procurement of forensic kits for sexual assault cases.

A statement issued by the WCD ministry said once procurement starts it will mark the beginning of usage of such kits in states and Union Territories through TOTs (Training of Trainers), capacity building and training for forensics in sexual assault cases and strengthening of state forensic science laboratories. For this project under the Nirbhaya Fund Rs. 107.19 crore has been approved.

Besides these two projects Rs 17.64 crore have been approved for the proposal from Konkan railway corporation limited for setting up video surveillance systems at 50 railway stations. The allocation under the Nirbhaya fund will be utilised for surveillance hardware and accessories, local connectivity equipment and power supply devices.

Earlier this year in March, the Centre had approved projects worth Rs 2,919 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund for creating “safe cities” with special focus on women safety in public spaces and quick response systems to create deterrence against crime. The eight cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow. The safe cities proposal was prepared in coordination with municipal corporations and police commissionerates of these cities. For instance, in Delhi projects worth Rs 663 crore was approved to enhance safety of public places like roads, schools and metro stations. For Mumbai, Rs 252 crore was sanctioned to enable GIS mapping of criminal hotspots, video surveillance, training of investigating officers and quick response police teams.

