The Congress on Monday flagged the rising crimes against women and the shrinking budgetary support for women’s welfare schemes to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rhetoric on his dedication to serving “Nari Shakti”.

It accused the women and child development minister, Smriti Irani, of apathy towards women’s safety and welfare.

“Crimes against women and children have doubled. Around 35 lakh cases have been reported between 2014 and 2022 (NCRB data),” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said, referring to the government’s National Crime Records Bureau.

“Against 2.4 lakh reported crimes in 2012, 4.5 lakh cases were reported in 2022. The number of POCSO (child sex abuse) incidents almost doubled in five years, from 32.6 thousand incidents in 2017 to 63.4 thousand incidents in 2022,” Ramesh said.

He said the Modi government had till 2022 used only 33 per cent of the dedicated Nirbhaya Fund for women’s safety.

“For 10 years, the ministry of women and child development (MWCD) has seen only incompetence, apathy, and an anti-women mindset. While the minister herself remains silent as women across India are assaulted, waking up only for crimes in Opposition-ruled states, her ministry diverts funds away from necessary schemes and hardworking women,” Ramesh said.

“The power-hungry Modi regime prioritises its politics above all, even at the cost of women’s safety. The BJP has brutally suppressed women wrestlers who were protesting sexual harassment by Brij Bhushan (Sharan) Singh, while protecting Brij Bhushan himself.

“They freed the convicted rapists of Bilkis Bano — even the Supreme Court stepped in to call it blatantly ‘illegal’. They regularly share stages with rapists, garland them, and make them MLAs and MPs. From Kathua to Hathras, the BJP has made India unsafe for women.”

Pointing to the shrinking funds for women’s welfare schemes, Ramesh said: “Only 0.55 per cent of the Union budget was allocated towards Anganwadi, nutritional schemes, women’s security, and child care institutions.

“This trend is not new — the MWCD’s share of the Union budget has been less than 0.75 per cent for the last 4 years. Under the 10 years of UPA, the budget of WCD ministry experienced an annual growth rate of 20.7 per cent. Under the anti-women Modi regime, the growth rate has come down to just 3.4 per cent.”

Ramesh added: “While the Modi government readily made arrangements for Rs 16 lakh crore in bank loan waivers and Rs 1.8 lakh crore in corporate tax cuts for friends, they declined to provide funds for providing students with breakfast in schools.

“The women and child development minister, along with the education minister, failed to convince their own government that feeding our children was a national priority. Even Anganwadi workers are not paid adequate wages and (are) denied basic facilities.”