“A policy that equates rape with marketable insurance policies.”

It was with a bit of fanfare that the Indian government-owned General Insurance Company (GIC) announced its Rajrajeshwari Women Welfare Insurance Scheme on 17 March. This was an insurance plan that allowed women to insure themselves against various misfortunes like accidental falls, gynaecological surgeries, snake bites, divorce expenses, and rape (at an annual premium of INR 15 against "rape disability", victims would be able to claim amounts ranging from INR 12,000-25,000/USD 280-580).

If Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee meant the scheme to be his government's gift to the women of India when he launched it, he was probably taken aback by the outrage it caused among women's groups. The insurance scheme exposed the "callousness and insensitivity of current attitudes within the present right-wing, Bharatiya Janata Party political leadership to the issue of rape," said Brinda Karat, general secretary of the All-India Democratic Women's Association. "In a country where rape and sexual attacks on women are increasing, the Prime Minister inaugurates a policy which equates rape with other marketable insurance polices."