Examine the utilisation of the Nirbhaya Fund in strengthening women's safety infrastructure in India, with reference to Fast Track Special Courts.

Q. Examine the utilisation of the Nirbhaya Fund in strengthening women's safety infrastructure in India, with reference to Fast Track Special Courts. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Created after the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, the Nirbhaya Fund is a non-lapsable corpus administered by the Department of Economic Affairs to finance women's safety projects [3]. Its most visible judicial output is the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) Scheme, which shows that dedicated earmarking can convert outrage into institutional capacity — though utilisation remains uneven.

Nirbhaya Fund as a financing architecture - Moves women's safety from ad-hoc allocations to a ring-fenced, non-lapsable corpus, insulating it from year-end budget cuts [3]. - Enables inter-ministerial deployment: the FTSC Scheme is run by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, not the nodal women's ministry, showing the Fund's cross-sectoral reach [1][3].

Utilisation through FTSCs: gains - Launched October 2019 following the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and the Supreme Court's order in Suo Motu Writ (Criminal) No. 1/2019 — a rare instance of judicial direction being funded and operationalised [3]. - ₹1,952.23 crore outlay for 2023-26, with the ₹1,207.24 crore Central share drawn from the Nirbhaya Fund on Centrally Sponsored Scheme pattern [2]. - Funds salaries of one judicial officer and seven support staff per court plus a flexi-grant; ₹1,034.55 crore released to States since inception [3]. - 775 FTSCs, including 398 exclusive POCSO courts, functional in 29 States/UTs as of April 2026, having disposed of over 3.3 lakh cases since inception [1][4].

Persisting gaps - Shortfall against target: 775 courts against the revised target of 790, itself scaled down from the original 1,023 [1][2]. - Federal coordination deficit: courts depend on States and High Courts for premises, judges and the 40% State share; one State/UT still remains outside the Scheme [1]. - Uncertain continuity: repeated stop-gap extensions — most recently only to 30 September 2026 — deter States from long-term recruitment [1].

The Nirbhaya Fund has thus succeeded in building physical and judicial capacity, but sustained impact needs predictable multi-year approvals, full State coverage, and outcome-linked monitoring of conviction quality rather than court counts alone. Aligning it with SDG 5 and Article 21's guarantee of speedy trial would make dedicated funding translate into dependable justice.

(≈330 words)

Sources: 1. Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), PIB — 775 FTSCs incl. 398 e-POCSO courts in 29 States/UTs (30.04.2026); extension to 30.09.2026; target 790; Department of Justice as implementing agency 2. Cabinet approves continuation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts for further three years, PIB — ₹1,952.23 crore outlay, ₹1,207.24 crore Central share from Nirbhaya Fund, 2023-26 period, original 1,023-court target 3. Scheme of Fast Track Special Courts, PIB — Nirbhaya Fund origin and administration; Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and Suo Motu Writ (Criminal) No. 1/2019 basis; ₹1,034.55 crore released; one judicial officer + seven support staff 4. Swift Justice, Safer Society: The Impact of Fast Track Special Courts, PIB — cumulative disposal of over 3.3 lakh cases since inception