Bengaluru’s Yelahanka One Stop Centre (OSCs) started only as recently as eight months ago. Yet, they have received over 70 complaints from women in distress so far. “We receive one or two complaints per day, most of them pertaining to marital problems, acid attacks, rape, or cyber crimes,” said Salma, the Centre coordinator.
Bengaluru has a total of six such OSCs– located in Majestic, Doddaballapura, Govindarajanagar, KR Puram, Yelahanka and Anekal–and several distressed women visit them, seeking a safe and responsive space that addresses their immediate concerns.
One Stop Centres are part of a nationwide initiative, introduced by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in the wake of the horrific rape and murder of a medical student in 2012 in Delhi. Acting as a single window platform, OSCs are meant to cater to women facing an immediate threat to their safety by providing a pit stop. They provide emergency response and rescue, medical and legal aid, police assistance, psycho-social counselling, video conferencing for court/police procedure, and short-term shelter.
TNM did a status check on the OSCs in Bengaluru on their response mechanism and the problems they face.
Infrastructure, volume of cases
Statistics show an increase in crimes against women, as more women now come forward to report complaints. In 2023, Bengaluru reported 4,870 cases of crimes against women, with a total of 20,336 cases in Karnataka, representing a 14.15% increase compared to 2022. In this context, OSCs are a crucial part of the process aimed at ensuring the safety of women facing the threat of violence.
Amitha, the centre administrator for the main OSC located in the Majestic area of Bengaluru, mentioned that per week, they receive two to three new cases or sometimes even five cases, approximately adding up to 50-60 cases a month. “Out of them, only 20 cases are completed because the Yelahanka OSC opened just recently and the staff are new and lack awareness,” she added.
“The Yelahanka OSC is open 24/7 as the guidelines mandate, and usually has eight staff members—an administrator, a counsellor, two social workers, two legal advisors, and two D Group staff (multi-purpose helpers, housekeeping staff, security guards),” said Salma.
Sudha, the centre administrator from KR Puram OSC located in the General KR Puram Hospital, mentioned the different ways in which they receive cases. “In the KR Puram OSC, the number of cases that we receive differs. It depends on 181 (Women’s emergency helpline number), 112 (Emergency response), hospital referrals, some NGOs, critical care or police stations. So in a day, we receive three or five or sometimes even seven complaints. Some people also come directly because of the awareness programmes that we conduct,” said Sudha.
When asked about the step-by-step procedure OSCs follow after receiving a complaint, Salma said that when they get a call on 181, they direct the complainant to the nearest OSC.
“Once they reach the Centre, we ensure that they get medical help, if needed. If that is not required, we get started and get clarity on what exactly they want—to go to the police station and file a complaint, or if they want counselling through the station, or if they need legal help and so on. Centres also provide temporary shelter to those women who are unable to go back to their homes immediately,” she added.
Salma mentioned that in case of a complaint by a minor, they refer them to another centre called Swadhar Greh, established by the MWCD to provide temporary accommodation, maintenance, and rehabilitative services for girls below 18 years of age and boys of up to 12 years of age.
The Centre administrators said that they keep a regular check on the complaints that are registered at the OSCs. “We follow each case up for a year through constant phone calls, home checkups, and social workers until the complainant assures us they are safe and comfortable,” said Salma.
When asked about the timings of the OSCs, Sudha explained that as of now, only the Majestic OSC is open at night. “At present, the KR Puram OSC building is getting renovated, and more staff are being recruited, so it’s not open 24/7. If a complainant calls after 9 pm, we give tele-counselling. If we see an emergency, we call 112 or the Sakhi Vehicle for rescue and stay in constant touch with the police,” she said.
Sudha also mentioned home visits. “If a domestic abuse case comes and the woman requests no case and just asks for a couple's counselling, we do that. We take 3-5 counselling sessions, and then the couple re-consults. We visit their home and observe if they are really happy and if domestic violence has resurfaced,” she added.
Amitha said that all OSCs help women keep all their documents safe and secure by clicking pictures, sending them through email, or giving them to someone they trust. “Women often trust their families to keep documents, and hence, when they come out of the house, they don’t have anything. Especially if a married woman wants to file a maintenance case, she needs to have her husband’s bank details, her ID, children’s birth certificates, marriage certificate/card/photos, etc. So many husbands try to keep all the documents with them or keep them away from the house, and the women are not even aware that their husbands have taken them and kept them somewhere else,” she said.
However, OSCs face several problems while executing their function due to several factors.
Challenges
Priya Varadarajan, Founder of Durga, a Bengaluru-based NGO, and a member of the task force of the Women and Child Development (WCD), mentioned that she and her team have been making efforts to ensure that the WCD understands the requirements of OSCs.
“The WCD can be given a report to see how we can resource the centre better or how the people within the one-stop centre can resource themselves better,” Priya said.
When asked if the OSCs can respond effectively to the needs of women and children in crisis, she said, “They can, but they can definitely do more.”
“Although the service is of good quality, it should be more internally driven rather than externally driven. It also requires external intervention or resourcing and picking the project properly by engaging closely and ensuring regular checkups and more consultations by the WCD. Today, the integration between civil societies and OSCs happens because civil society takes a lot more effort, as they are more invested in it, but I think it should hopefully change and be a little two-way,” she added.
Priya further said that hiring good people and paying them better is crucial.
“The government needs to resource the WCD adequately at the state level to be able to pay for efficient OSC staff. Being clear about deliverables and having checks and balances on what kind of cases happened and where all the Centres provide services is important. The process also needs to have more transparency and accountability,” she said.
Amitha explained that several awareness programmes are underway to publicise the existence and aims of OSCs to the general public. “GOI has initiated a program releasing an order to put OSC signage in all public areas,” she said.
She further said that more OSCs are needed to accommodate the number of cases the state receives. “The funds are mostly being released from the Union government, but channelising at the state and district levels needs to happen more effectively,” she added.