(This story originally appeared in on Apr 18, 2017)

LUCKNOW: In a bid to provide quick justice in cases of crime against women , the Aditya Nath Yogi government has proposed 100 special fast-track courts in different districts of UP. Prepared by department for law and justice, the proposal is pending before the department of finance in the wake of huge cost involved."This was a commitment made by us in our Sankalp Patra and we are working to fulfil it," said Brajesh Pathak, minister for law and justice, adding, "The total cost involved in the project is Rs 400 crore." He said that the proposal entails appointment of human resource required to address the issue of pending court cases in UP besides creating an infrastructure."We have also proposed to establish a special investigating unit of 1,000 women officers to investigate and aid speedy disposal of cases of crimes against women. Besides this, 1,100 other posts of various cadres have been proposed to set up the fast-track courts," he said.The provision for fast-track courts to disposes cases of crimes against women came into being after the gruesome Nirbhaya rape case of 2012. As on date, there are 183 fast-track courts in UP as per a written reply submitted by Union minister for law and justice Ravi Shankar Prasad to parliament in January 2017. However, these 100 courts would deal exclusively with the women's issue.Sources said that the Yogi government is trying to get the proposal funded from the Centre. "The 14th Finance Commission proposal to strengthen the judicial system also includes setting up 1,800 fast track courts in India . As on date, there are only 524 functional fast track courts in the country," said an officer in the state law department.The department is also preparing a district-wise list of pending cases. "We have sought the help of the Allahabad high court for this," Pathak said. However, as per Supreme Court of India report titled "Subordinate Courts in India: A report of access to justice 2016" released in January 2017, over 55.74 lakh cases are pending in UP.