SHILLONG: The Assembly Committee on Women Empowerment has asked the Social Welfare Department to ensure that the fund under the Chief Minister’s Social Assistance scheme is distributed to beneficiaries at the earliest.
Talking to media persons here on Monday, chairperson of the committee Ampareen Lyngdoh said the department has assured that the amount will be cleared shortly.
The panel also suggested that the department should have an SMS alert system so that beneficiaries know when the money is disbursed. Similar directive will also be issued to the IT cell of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly so that each MLA of the state is informed about the scheme when it is disbursed to the beneficiaries, it was proposed.
There are approximately 53,000 beneficiaries of the scheme. The department was asked to make the two women’s hostels functional at the earliest set up shelter homes for women in Jowai and Tura.
Lyngdoh said the department should make one-stop crisis centres fully functional even as she expressed concern over rapes and violence against women and children saying rape cases have not been reduced till now.
The committee has also asked the department to utilise schemes which are meant for rehabilitation of the victims of trafficking.