Funding crisis forces one-stop centres to trim their operations

Centres providing essential support by drawing on resources of staff members

- POOJA NAIR @Kozhikode

ONE-STOP centres (OSCs), established under the Nirbhaya scheme to provide crucial assistance to women and children facing violence, have been compelled to trim their operations due to lack of funding from the Union government. Once a sanctuary for victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and other forms of exploitation, the cut in services at OSCs, which function in all 14 districts of the state, is putting the lives of many at risk.

For the past eight months, Kozhikode OSC's 12 dedicated staff members have not received salaries. The situation is no different in the other districts. Despite constraints, the centres continued to provide essential support such as food, shelter, counselling, and legal aid to survivors, often drawing on the resources of staff members. The mounting financial burden, however, made their efforts unsustainable.

"Many of us have been using our personal savings to ensure the survivors receive what they need, but we can no longer manage to do so," a staff member at the Kozhikode centre said on condition of anonymity.