Narendra Modi govt not listening: Rahul Gandhi flags issues in women’s OSCs

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday raised concerns over the functioning of the Centre’s one stop centres (OSCs) for women, alleging that the Narendra Modi-led government is “not listening to anyone” despite repeated complaints.

The Congress leader said OSCs — meant to provide support to women affected by violence — are facing serious operational issues, including being non-functional, understaffed or inaccessible. Calling safety a “fundamental responsibility” of the government, Rahul Gandhi questioned why women seeking help often fail to receive assistance.

“Women are knocking on doors for help, yet the government has kept those doors shut,” he said, citing reports of centres being locked or not operating round the clock as mandated. He also flagged concerns over staff shortages and alleged that complaints from across the country are going unheard.

Rahul Gandhi questioned the government’s response that the situation is “satisfactory”, asking why problems continue to surface if that were the case. He further claimed that support is still not reaching a majority of women in need and pointed to low spending on OSCs, stating that only a small portion of the allocated budget for the Ministry of Women and Child Development is being utilised for these centres.

The issue was earlier raised by Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on 27 March, where he sought details on the number of operational OSCs, their functioning, staffing levels, and fund utilisation over the past five years. He also asked whether complaints of mismanagement or violation of operational guidelines had been examined.

Responding in Parliament, minister of state for women and child development Savitri Thakur said OSCs are part of the Mission Shakti umbrella scheme and provide integrated services such as medical aid, legal assistance, temporary shelter, police support and counselling to women in distress.

She said that since their launch in April 2015, over 13.37 lakh women have been assisted through OSCs across the country. Thakur added that the implementation of the scheme lies with state governments and Union Territory administrations.

Citing third-party evaluations conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and 2025, the minister said the scheme has been found to be relevant, effective and sustainable, with its overall performance rated as satisfactory.

Despite the government’s defence, Rahul Gandhi maintained that dismissing concerns does not ensure safety, and called for greater accountability and responsiveness to the issues faced by women seeking support.

With PTI inputs