Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest conviction rate in the country in cases of crimes against women, as per the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau. This is the result of remarkable political support, strong administrative intent and meticulous monitoring of the state’s ambitious flagship programme — Mission Shakti.
Mission Shakti was launched in October 2020 to make improvements to women’s safety, dignity and empowerment in a state that has been infamous for its feudal mindset towards women and the consequent violence and exploitation faced by them.
It is based on two founding pillars. The first involves a concerted attempt to ensure that the schemes and benefits rolled out by various departments for the upliftment and empowerment of women reaches the last mile.
The second promotes women’s safety by ensuring easy access to law enforcement services, cracking down on crimes against women, and getting criminals punished in a time-bound manner. In pursuit of the second objective, special women’s help desks have been operationalised at all 1,500-plus police stations in the state, supervised 24/7 by women police personnel.
A culture of prompt registration of FIRs, time-bound investigations and maximising convictions has been carefully cultivated over the last four years. As a result, 13,099 convictions were awarded in UP in 2022 for crimes against women, which alone account for more than one-third of the total 37,551 convictions nationwide.
This reflects a remarkable change in the work culture and accountability of the criminal justice system in the state.
