• Framework of Nirbhaya Fund -Download 

Violence and abuse against women and girls is frequent on streets, in public transportation and in other public places. Such occurrences restrict women’s right to mobility, discouraging their freedom to walk freely and move in public spaces of their choice. Such violence also limits their access to essential services and adversely impact their health and wellbeing. To address these issues, the government has set up a dedicated fund – Nirbhaya Fund – which can be utilized for projects specifically designed to improve the safety and security of women.

Nirbhaya Fund is a non-lapsable corpus fund, being administered by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. Upon appraisal by the Empowered Committee (EC) under Framework for Nirbhaya Fund, the concerned implementing Ministry/Department is required to take approval of Competent Financial Authority (CFA) as per delegation of financial powers and get the fund allocated in their departmental budget out of Nirbhaya Fund corpus from Department of Economic Affairs through regular or supplementary Demand for Grants.

As per the guidelines issued by Ministry of Finance dated 25.03.2015, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is the nodal Ministry to appraise/recommend proposals and schemes to be funded under Nirbhaya Fund. MWCD further has the responsibility to review and monitor the progress of sanctioned schemes in conjunction with the line Ministries/Departments. An Empowered Committee of Officers under the Chairpersonship of Secretary MWCD was set up on 26.10.2015 to appraise and recommend proposals to be funded under Nirbhaya Fund.

• Central Government Ministries/ Departments can formulate proposals and send to MWCD.
• State Departments can also formulate proposals with regard to their specific sector (e.g. road transport, policing, power etc.)
• State Departments States should submit proposals to the concerned Central Government Ministry/Department.
• State Departments They should also mark an advance copy to the Secretary, MWCD (Chairperson of the Empowered Committee).
• State Departments All proposals from UTs are to be routed through the Ministry of Home Affairs (UT Division).
• State Departments The concerned Ministry/Department of the Central Government should forward the State/UT proposals with their recommendations/comments to the Empowered Committee.
• Autonomous and other govt. bodies can submit proposals through concerned Ministries/Departments/State Governments.

The Empowered Committee set up on 26.10.2015 to appraise and recommend proposals to be funded under Nirbhaya Fund is the apex body for coordinating body under Nirbhaya Fund.

Empowered Committee composition:

1. Secretary, MWCD: Chairperson

2. Secretary, MHA,

3. Secretary, MoRTH

4. Secretary, MeitY

5. Chairman, Railway Board: Member

6. Joint Secretary, DEA: Member

7. Secretary of Project Sponsoring Department: Member

8. Secretary of concerned State Govt. Dept: Member

9. Secretary, State Dept. of WCD: Member

10. Joint Secretary, MWCD: Convenor

(For State proposals, the members from Sl. No. 5 to 9 are to be co-opted as per the requirements of the project).

The Empowered Committee is also responsible for monitoring utilization of funds by concerned Ministries/Departments/States/UTs. This is further aided by an online dashboard tracking implementation and utilization which is updated by all concerned.

• The Empowered Committee is to appraise and take a view on the proposals and recommend them.

• Following recommendation by the Empowered Committee, the concerned Ministry/ Department should place the proposal before the Competent Authority for approval subject to the following financial limits:

Up to Rs. 100 Cr: Secretary, Concerned Ministry

Rs. 100-500 Cr: Minister of Concerned Ministry

Rs. 500-1000 Cr: Minister of Concerned Ministry and MoF

Above Rs. 1000 Cr: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

• After obtaining the necessary approvals and subject to the availability of funds, there will be two ways of releasing funds:

o The concerned Ministry/Department should take up the proposal with Budget Division (DEA) Ministry of Finance under Nirbhaya Fund.

o With approval of MoF, MWCD can also transfer funds to concerned Ministries/Departments for further disbursal to reduce time-lag of allocations through annual budgets.

• The Budget Division (DEA), with the approval of Finance Minister will approve the funding of schemes from Nirbhaya Fund and will also be the nodal Ministry for any accretion into and withdrawal from the fund.

• The concerned Ministries/Departments shall take necessary action for approval of SFC/ EFC /PIB and Cabinet for implementation of the scheme on the ground.

Standard funding pattern will be followed:

• 60:40 for all States

• 90:10 for States with difficult terrains

• 100% for UTs

• Few initiatives are 100% funded

The funds for the projects shall be released following the procedure prescribed in GFR 2017.