Launched as a pilot in 2015 across 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Asha Jyoti Kendra initiative broke new ground in the state’s response to violence against women. Conceived jointly by the Ministry of Women & Child Welfare and the Department of Women & Child Development, the project was designed as an integrated, “all-under-one-roof” support hub. Each center coordinates six critical services—emergency medical care, police intervention, legal aid, psycho-social counseling, a 24-hour 181 helpline backed by rescue vans, and short-stay housing for women and their children—so survivors avoid the delays and trauma of navigating multiple agencies.
To bypass the typical bottlenecks that stall public‐sector buildings, the program introduced an innovative prefabricated, modular construction system. These plug-and-play units can be assembled on-site and made fully operational within just three months, enabling the government to act quickly when new districts are identified. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility commitments, our team delivered complete architectural and engineering services pro bono, ensuring each Kendra met stringent clinical, security, and accessibility standards while keeping costs and timelines tight.
The model’s success is reflected in its rapid scale-up to 17 districts, with many centers now embedded inside government hospital campuses for immediate access to emergency care. In practice, the Kendras function as safe harbors for women experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault, acid attacks, or other crises, where they can obtain rapid medical attention, file police reports, secure legal protection, and receive trauma counseling without leaving the premises. This tightly coordinated, compassionate framework not only stabilizes victims at their most vulnerable moment but also showcases an efficient, replicable template for women’s welfare across India. By streamlining construction and service delivery, Asha Jyoti Kendra has demonstrated how thoughtful design and inter-agency collaboration can translate policy intent into life-saving, on-the-ground impact.
