Eleventh Five Year Plan

Towards Women’s Agency and Child Rights 199issues. Their experiences and recommendations willbe taken on board to ascertain that the rights of everywoman are enshrined in laws.6.68 Under the Eleventh Plan budgetary allocationswill be made for publicity and for creating the requiredinfrastructure for effective implementation of theselegislations. MoWCD will appoint Protection Officersand set up district-level cells to be responsible formonitoring and implementation of Protection ofWomen from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) andother Acts under its charge.6.69 Ministry of WCD will also try and ensure theenactment of other legislations that benefit women.The government is already contemplating the unorganizedsector bill to provide social security to unorganizedsector workers; besides this the schemes forlife and health insurance have already been introduced.These should be implemented with a special emphasison safeguarding the interests of women. The DPAwill be reviewed to clarify existing provisions relatingto the definition of the dowry and penalties for guiltyparties. Implementation of PWDVA with DPA will belinked to enable PWDVA protection officers to takeaction under the DPA. The Eleventh Plan will also haveprovisions for sensitization of medical professionalson recording of evidence in cases of dowry deaths,training and capacity building of law enforcementfunctionaries and awareness generation about problemsof dowry. Efforts will be made to ensure effectivemonitoring and enforcement of Pre-Conception andPre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of SexSelection) (PC and PNDT) Act, 2002 through Centraland State Supervisory Boards and adequate allocationof funds. Public awareness and community mobilizationwill be generated along with training the authoritiesto deal with the issue of sex determination and sexselective abortions.6.70 The MoWCD will ensure the enactment ofthe bill to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace.The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA) is alreadybeing reviewed to ensure that women in prostitutionare not victimized further. In addition to this, theEleventh Plan will strengthen inter-regional networksto check forced migration and trafficking. Specialpolice officers will be appointed to promote communitylevel vigilance to reduce trafficking. There will bespecial training modules on trafficking for police,judiciary, and other government personnel. Morerehabilitation homes will be established.6.71 To tackle the conflict-related VAW, the EleventhPlan will ensure the inclusion of provisions of sexualviolence in the draft law on the prevention of communalviolence. It will look into setting up SpecialCourts to deal with cases of VAW in conflict situations,including those involving security personnel. It willencourage women’s involvement in peace keeping,community dialogues, and conflict resolution. Therewill be special measures for compensation, financialassistance, and support to widows and female headedhouseholds in conflict areas.6.72 The Eleventh Plan will foster women’s access tolegal services through a range of measures. Womenwill be exempted from paying fees to fight cases ofhuman rights violations. Funds for legal assistance willbe provided to poor women seeking legal redress.Legal awareness programmes will be carried out in allStates in collaboration with NGOs working at thegrassroots level. Legal Aid Cells consisting of committedand gender-sensitive lawyers will be set up at thePanchayat level to provide information and supportto rural women, especially poor women. Lok Adalatswill be organized to encourage alternate dispute settlementmechanisms for efficacious settlement of cases.The Plan will also work towards increasing the percentageof women in police and judicial services. Trainingon use of gender specific laws will be providedto all Members and Authorities involved in providinglegal services. Concept of Jan Sunwaiye will be adoptedto listen to people’s voices. 14CREATING INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMSFOR GENDER MAINSTREAMING ANDSTRENGTHENING DELIVERY MECHANISMS6.73 In the Eleventh Plan, institutional mechanismswill carry forward the process of gender mainstreaming14Jan Sunwaiye is a forum of CSO, Government Functionaries and People for hearing and redressal of grievances.