One Stop Crisis Centre awaits inauguration

Despite the assertion by MP Kesineni Srinivas that Vijayawada will be the first city in the country to get the ‘One Stop Crisis Centre’ (OSCC) for women’s safety, it is yet to become operational. The OSCC, which was scheduled to be inaugurated by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Raksha Bandhan, was deferred due to unknown reasons.

The OSCC has been set up on the first floor of Shaik Raja Hospital at Kothapet by spending Rs 5 lakh on its renovation. The centre is meant for provision of restorative justice and rehabilitation of women victims of rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence. The OSCC management committee is headed by the District Collector.

The Commissioner of Police, DPO, Project Director of ICDS and three social activists are its members. Explaining the concept, ICDS Project Director K Krishna Kumari said, “The Central Government has proposed to set up 50 OSCCs across the country. The first one has been planned in Vijayawada.

Sakhi is one of the names being considered for the OSCC. The centre set up at Shaik Raja Hospital has five beds to provide temporary shelter to women victims, besides a counselling room. The OSCC will start functioning once the District Collector takes a decision on its inauguration.”

Welcoming the establishment of the OSCC in the city, CPM leader and Corporator Gade Adilakshmi is of the view that Shaik Raja Hospital is not ideally located for it. “The best place for setting up of the centre is the Government Maternity Hospital, at Hanumanpet.

It is ideal to set up the centre on the premises of a government hospital to provide medical aid and psychological counselling to women victims as part of their rehabilitation. The maternity hospital will also get benefited in terms of infrastructure development if the OSCC is set up on its premises,’’ she said.

By Ch Sowmya Sruthi