GIC has plans to offer insurance to women in the age group of 10 to 75 against damage from rape under the yojna. Reactions from practically all women's rights activists affiliated to women's organisations here have lambasted the policy saying that it would not only mean further humiliation for the mentally devastated victim, but would also breed false claims in a large number.

``The GIC and the prime minister presented it proudly without considering its aftermath,'' claimed Akhil Hind Mahila Parishad city president Sukhanya Patel, adding that the policy was a steady assault on a woman's status. According to her, the policy would, in the first place, not find any genuine takers. And if anyone did attempt to make use of the policy, then there might be a motive to earn money.

``Anti-social elements also will be out to benefit from the scheme and I do not think it is fair to lure women by offering low premium for the policy,'' she told Express Newsline.

``Only a male-dominated establishment would be so insensitive and ignorant about the meaning of rape,'' said vice-president of the city unit of the All India Womens Committee (AIWC), Bharti Dalal, who is also the chairperson of the Legal Aid Centre in the city.

Strongly recommending that women should instead become both physically and mentally strong, Dalal said that getting oneself insured against possible rape was not the most ideal way of ensuring one's safety.

``In fact, by making such announcements, the government gives an indirect indication that nowadays rape is as common as an accident or theft which can happen with anybody at anytime. Instead of taking action against the rapist they are compensating women by providing monetary help through this policy, which shows their incompetence to solve this serious issue,'' she said, lambasting the proposed policy. ``Announcing such an absurd scheme is not addressing the problem,'' she contended.

The Surat Mahila Club, another organisation involved in women's rights, also echoed the criticism. Club president Prathibha Khan, while expressing anguish over the policy on rape, told Express Newsline, ``Though the word rape has been deleted from the policy, the fear among women is not lessened one bit. The policy in a way, concedes that occurrence of rape is very high. The government should realise that rape prevention is what women want and not monetary compensation''.

Stating that the policy itself did not solve the problem, Khan said, ``it well added to woman's trauma because a rape victim normally does not want to publicise either herself or the incident, leave alone talking to an insurance agent or the police of the gory details of the rape''.

She added that an altogether different approach needed to be taken while tackling such cases. ``Being the worst form of violent crime against women, the government should instead make rape punishable by capital punishment,'' said D R Seth, another founding member of the Club.