Fast Track Special Courts Scheme Extended to 2031: Rs 3,788 Crore for Rape and POCSO Trials

What happened

On 4 November 2026 the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO courts, for a further five years: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031 (FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31). These courts try cases of rape and of offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The total outlay is Rs 3,788.04 crore. The Centre will pay Rs 2,353.15 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund, and states and Union Territories together will bear Rs 1,434.89 crore. Welcoming the decision, the Prime Minister described it as a move "from less delay to faster justice". DD News reported that he welcomed it alongside other recent Cabinet decisions, including a Viability Gap Funding scheme for grid-scale energy storage, the VISTAR statistics initiative and a scheme for processing critical minerals.

Background

The scheme grew out of two developments:

• Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, which brought stricter punishment for rape, including the death penalty in some cases, and led to the creation of FTSCs.
• Supreme Court directions of 25 July 2019 in suo motu Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 1/2019, which asked for exclusive POCSO courts in every district with more than 100 POCSO Act cases.

The Department of Justice (Ministry of Law and Justice) formulated the scheme in August 2019 and launched it on 2 October 2019, at first for one year. It was then extended to 31 March 2023, and in November 2023 the Cabinet extended it again to 31 March 2026 with an outlay of Rs 1,952.23 crore (Centre Rs 1,207.24 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund, states Rs 744.99 crore). The latest decision is the third extension and the first for a full five-year cycle.

Key details

How the scheme works (as described by PIB in March 2025):

• Funding pattern: Centre and states share costs 60:40. For the North-Eastern states, Sikkim and the hilly states and UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the ratio is 90:10; UTs without a legislature are fully funded by the Centre.
• What is funded: each court gets one judicial officer and seven support staff, plus flexi-grants for running costs and for making courts child- and women-friendly.
• Release of money: the central share is paid on a reimbursement basis after states submit expenditure statements.
• Target: each court is expected to dispose of at least 165 cases a year (41-42 a quarter).
• Role of states: setting up and running the courts is the job of state governments in consultation with their High Courts; the Centre funds and monitors.
• Monitoring: the Department of Justice publishes court and case figures on an online FTSC dashboard.

Where things stand. As per the Department of Justice FTSC dashboard (which does not give an as-of date), there are 774 functional FTSCs, including 398 exclusive POCSO courts, with 3,61,055 cases disposed of since inception and 2,44,935 cases pending.

Why it matters

• Speedy trial as a right: quick trials in sexual offence cases reduce the trauma of survivors, many of whom are children, and protect the right to a speedy trial that courts read into Article 21.
• Deterrence: faster conviction or acquittal makes the law credible and limits pressure on witnesses.
• Longer horizon: a five-year approval, aligned with the 2026-31 cycle of many schemes, gives states certainty to recruit judges, prosecutors and staff.
• Cooperative federalism: it is a clear example of the Centre funding a state subject (administration of justice in subordinate courts) through a shared-cost scheme.

Issues and criticism

• Pendency remains high: as per the DoJ dashboard, about 2.45 lakh cases are still pending in these courts, so capacity is still short of demand.
• Gaps flagged by evaluators: a 2023 third-party evaluation by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), cited by the government, recommended continuing the scheme but also called for special judges experienced in POCSO cases, more women public prosecutors, sensitisation training, better courtroom technology, stronger forensic labs for timely DNA reports, VWDCs in all districts and a child psychologist in every FTSC. These recommendations point to bottlenecks outside the courtroom.
• Dependence on states: because courts are set up and staffed by states with High Courts, the pace of operationalisation varies across states.

Way forward

• Fill judicial and prosecutor posts on time and give them specialised training.
• Cut delays in forensic and DNA reports, a frequent cause of adjournments.
• Build VWDCs and child-friendly courtrooms in every district.
• Use the dashboard to publish court-wise disposal and pendency so that underperforming districts get attention.
• Strengthen victim compensation and support services alongside faster trials.

Prelims pointers

• FTSC scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice.
• Launched on 2 October 2019; origin in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and Supreme Court suo motu WP (Crl) No. 1/2019.
• Exclusive POCSO courts were directed for districts with more than 100 POCSO cases.
• New cycle: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031, outlay Rs 3,788.04 crore.
• Central share Rs 2,353.15 crore comes from the Nirbhaya Fund; state/UT share Rs 1,434.89 crore.
• Funding ratio 60:40, and 90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan states.
• Each court is funded for one judicial officer and seven support staff.

One-liners for SSC, Banking and Railways

• Cabinet approved continuation of the Fast Track Special Courts scheme on 4 November 2026.
• Scheme period: FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31 (five years).
• Total outlay: Rs 3,788.04 crore.
• Centre's share is funded from the Nirbhaya Fund.
• FTSCs try cases of rape and POCSO Act offences.
• The scheme was launched on 2 October 2019.

Revise more such facts with the weekly current affairs quiz and the SSC CGL page.

Mains practice question

"Fast Track Special Courts have improved disposal of rape and POCSO cases, but speed alone does not deliver justice." Discuss in the context of the extension of the FTSC scheme to 2031. (250 words)

Points to cover:

1. Origin of the scheme (2018 amendment, Supreme Court directions of 2019) and the new 2026-31 outlay and funding pattern.
2. Gains: dedicated courts, disposal figures from the official dashboard, child-friendly procedures.
3. Gaps: pendency, forensic delays, shortage of trained judges and prosecutors, uneven state performance (IIPA findings).
4. Way forward: capacity building, forensics, VWDCs, victim support and data-driven monitoring.