Jalandhar MP opens new building of one-stop centre

Our Correspondent

Jalandhar, January 28

Local MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh inaugurated the new building of Sakhi, one-stop centre, at the Shaheed Babu Labh Singh Civil Hospital here on Tuesday. The MP was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma on the occasion.

Divulging details, the MP said an amount of Rs48 lakh had been spent on the construction of the building which had separate rooms for medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counselling and temporary support services. Apart from this, the building also houses a 10-bedded shelter room.

The MP added that the centre that was earlier operating from the mother-child care centre had been offering assistance to rape, domestic violence and physical and mental harassment victims.

He said its basic purpose was to ensure that the rights of the victim were protected and they were able to get justice through proper assistance by the authorities.

“The new building will prove to be a boon for the needy women. The centre will provide a healing touch to the victims of domestic violence and exploitation. It provides support and assistance to women affected by violence both in private and public spaces, besides safeguarding their interests in other cases such as sexual exploitation and physical or mental torture,” said the MP.

The DC said if the victim was minor, cases were solved in coordination with the authorities or institutions established under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

He said the new building had also been integrated with ‘181’ women helpline of the Punjab Police and it would make the services more accessible to the women in distress.

On the occasion, CJM Jaapinder Singh, District Programme Officer Amarjeet Singh Bhullar, Executive Engineer, PWD, BS Tuli, SDOs Prem Kamal and Vishal and SMO Dr Chanjeev Singh were present.