Asha Jyoti Kendras - ray of hope for women in distress
Chief minister announces launch of 11 all-in-one help centres, felicitates 97 women with Rani Laxmibai Award and extends monetary help to 31 acid attack survivors
LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced the launch of 11 Asha Jyoti Kendras on the occasion of International Women’s Day on Tuesday. These centres, which would operate from rented apartments till June, are expected to function as all-in-one help centres for all emergency and non-emergency needs of women.
Officials of the women and child development department said Rani Laxmibai Asha Jyoti Kaushal Vikas Kendras or women-centric skill-development centres would also get functional now. Through these centres, women would be trained for various jobs - depending on their qualification and aptitude and skill sets.
Besides, a helpline number for women - 181 - to be known as Mahila Jyoti Asha Line - was launched by the chief minister during Tuesday’s award function in which 97 women were given Rani Laxmibai Award while 31 acid attack survivors were given monetary help of up to Rs 10 lakh (depending on the extent of their disability) through the newly set up Rani Laxmi Bai Samman Kosh.
The helpline would make women aware of the various schemes and initiatives for their welfare. Dimple Yadav, MP from Kannauj, congratulated her chief minister husband for the various women-friendly initiatives and said these centres would extend various counselling services - from family counselling facilities to the ones related to employment. Crisis intervention centres too would be set up in the Asha Jyoti Kendras that would be operated by the women and child development department along with Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai (TISS) and Unicef ’s UP unit. The first 11 Asha Jyoti Kendras would come up in Lucknow, Agra, Bareilly, Meerut, Ghazipur, Ghaziabad, Kanpur (City), Kannauj, Allahabad, Gorakhpur and Varanasi. Each centre would have ambulance facility, canteen, ATM among other things. While emergency calls from women would be transferred to 1090 Women Powerline and police (‘Dial 100’) - these Asha Jyoti Kendras would help women in distress with free consultation and legal aid. A women’s police outpost would also function at these centres to help the needy get their FIRs registered.