Cabinet Extends 850 Fast Track Special Courts for Rape and POCSO Cases, Explained

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, 4 November 2026 approved a five-year continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO courts.

The Press Information Bureau note, posted at 3:45 pm IST by PIB Delhi, says the Cabinet was chaired by the Prime Minister. The continuation runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. The PIB title line puts that span in financial years: FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31. The total outlay is Rs 3,788.04 crore. The same text is carried on the Prime Minister of India's website, dated 4 November 2026.

The Hindu (Sreeparna Chakrabarty, published 6:39 pm IST, updated 6:45 pm IST) and Hindustan Times (PTI, updated 4:48 pm IST) report the same decision. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw briefed reporters, Hindustan Times reported. The PIB note itself does not name the minister.

The 60-second version

• Decision: Continue the FTSC scheme, including exclusive POCSO courts, from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. PIB note posted at 3:45 pm IST. Ministry of Law and Justice.
• Money: Rs 3,788.04 crore in all. Central share Rs 2,353.15 crore, from the Nirbhaya Fund. State and UT share Rs 1,434.89 crore.
• Courts: Provision to operationalise 850 FTSCs, including exclusive POCSO courts. 779 are functional now, including 399 exclusive POCSO courts. 29 participating States and Union Territories.
• Cases disposed: 4,02,457 since inception, in the PIB note and in the Hindu body. HT says over 4.02 lakh. No conviction rate is in these texts.
• Each court: A dedicated judicial officer, a special public prosecutor, and 6 support staff, for rape cases and offences under the POCSO Act, 2012.
• Launch, on the PIB date: 2 October 2019, after the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, and the Supreme Court directions of 25 July 2019 in Suo Motu Writ (Criminal) No. 1/2019. The Hindu says 10 October 2019.
• Who it is for: Women and children who are victims of rape and of POCSO Act offences, the PIB note says.

What the Cabinet approved

The PIB note's opening paragraph is the decision in one place. The Union Cabinet approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts, including exclusive POCSO courts, for a further five years, from 01.04.2026 to 31.03.2031.

The Hindu reports that window as April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031. Hindustan Times says the scheme has been extended for five years till March 2031.

The PIB note says the scheme was initially launched for one year and was subsequently extended up to 31.03.2026. This approval continues it for a further five years, up to 31.03.2031. The Hindu uses the same sequence: one year at the start, then an extension up to 31 March 2026, then the new continuation.

Four features are listed in the note:

1. Continuation for those five years.
2. Operationalisation of 850 FTSCs, including exclusive POCSO courts, across participating States and Union Territories.
3. A dedicated judicial officer, a special public prosecutor, and 6 support staff, for pending cases of rape and of offences under the POCSO Act, 2012.
4. Financial assistance to participating States and Union Territories for the operational expenditure of the courts, in accordance with the CSS funding pattern.

The funding-pattern line does not include a percentage. The note prints the two rupee shares instead. Those shares are below.

The money

Source	Outlay it states	Split it states
PIB note, 3:45 pm IST (Ministry of Law and Justice)	Rs 3,788.04 crore	Central share Rs 2,353.15 crore, from the Nirbhaya Fund. State/UT share Rs 1,434.89 crore.
Prime Minister of India website, 4 November 2026	Rs 3,788.04 crore	Same central and State/UT shares. Central share from the Nirbhaya Fund.
Hindustan Times / PTI, updated 4:48 pm IST, quoting an official statement	Rs 3,788.04 crore	Centre Rs 2,353.15 crore through the Nirbhaya Fund. States and UTs Rs 1,434.89 crore.
The Hindu body, published 6:39 pm IST, updated 6:45 pm IST	Rs 3,788.04 crore	Central share Rs 2,353.15 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund. State/UT share Rs 1,434.89 crore.
The Hindu headline	Rs 3,788 crore	The headline rounds the figure. The body of the same story uses Rs 3,788.04 crore.

The central share is the portion the note ties to the Nirbhaya Fund. The State and Union Territory share is stated separately. The note does not say the Nirbhaya Fund pays the State and UT share.

Adding the two shares the note prints gives the total it prints: 2,353.15 + 1,434.89 = 3,788.04. The note presents them as one outlay, already summed.

Hindustan Times attributes the rupee figures, the staffing line, and the expansion line to an official statement, inside a PTI report of Vaishnaw's briefing. The figures match the PIB note.

Courts, staff, and who is covered

The status block in the PIB note is the current picture. The Hindu body repeats the court counts and the disposal count.

Particulars	Figure in the PIB note
Date of launch	02.10.2019
Participating States and Union Territories	29
Functional FTSCs, including exclusive POCSO courts	779, including 399 exclusive POCSO courts
Cases disposed of since inception	4,02,457
Proposed FTSCs under the extended scheme	850
Continuation the prose of the note states	01.04.2026 to 31.03.2031

779 and 850 are both in the note. The difference between those two printed numbers is 71. The note does not itself print "71". It says the expansion is from the current 779 to 850 so that coverage can extend to additional districts, on the basis of case pendency data across States and Union Territories. A later paragraph says additional districts "shall be identified on the basis of the pendency of rape and POCSO Act cases."

The note does not publish which districts, or which of the 850 courts will be exclusive POCSO courts. Of the courts already functional, 399 of 779 are exclusive POCSO courts. The Hindu states that current split the same way. Neither text gives the exclusive-POCSO share inside the proposed 850.

On staffing, the note has two formulations, and they sit a few paragraphs apart.

The features list says: a dedicated judicial officer, a special public prosecutor, and 6 support staff, to facilitate disposal of pending rape and POCSO cases.

The implementation section then says:

• Introduction of a specialised special public prosecutor assigned exclusively to each FTSC.
• One judicial officer and six support staff per FTSC.

Hindustan Times quotes the official statement in the briefing copy as: each court staffed with a dedicated judicial officer, a special public prosecutor, and six support personnel.

Read together, the two passages name one judicial officer, one special public prosecutor, and six support staff. The implementation line's word is "introduction". The note does not say how many courts already have an exclusive prosecutor.

The primary beneficiaries, the note says, are women and children who are victims of rape and of offences under the POCSO Act, 2012.

The impacts the note says the continuation is expected to have are listed as aims, not as measured results:

• Faster trials and timely justice for victims of sexual offences.
• Fewer pending rape and POCSO Act cases.
• Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres (VWDCs) and child-friendly court spaces, so victims can testify without further distress. The scheme encourages those centres and spaces.
• A reduction in inequality of access to justice, by prioritising cases involving women and children. That is the note's "reduced inequality" line.

The Hindu, attributing an official statement, reports the same expected effects: expedited trials, a smaller backlog, VWDCs, child-friendly court spaces, and priority for women and children. Hindustan Times says the scheme focuses on a victim-friendly setting through vulnerable witness deposition centres and child-friendly court facilities, "helping survivors testify with dignity and minimal trauma."

No conviction rate, acquittal rate, or average time to judgment is in the PIB note, the Hindu story, or the Hindustan Times copy read for this piece.

How the scheme is run and watched

The PIB note says the Department of Justice implements the scheme with the State governments and Union Territory administrations. Hindustan Times places that department in the Union law ministry and says it will oversee implementation with the states and the UT administrations.

Monitoring, as the note sets it out:

• The FTSC Dashboard.
• Periodic progress reports.
• Expenditure statements of the State. The note's phrase is "Expenditure Statements of the State".
• Consultations with High Courts and State governments, and their feedback.

The background section adds periodic data collection from High Courts and review meetings with stakeholders. Hindustan Times reports an online dashboard, regular progress reviews, and consultations with high courts and state governments.

The performance line in the note says the scheme aims to improve the rate of disposal of pending rape and POCSO Act cases, reduce pendency, and facilitate time-bound trials. It does not set a numeric disposal target in the text.

Central assistance to participating States and Union Territories is to follow the approved funding pattern and prescribed guidelines. The guidelines are named. They are not reproduced in the note.

Where the scheme came from

The PIB background is the origin story these reports rely on.

The scheme was launched on 2 October 2019 in pursuance of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, and in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court dated 25 July 2019 in Suo Motu Writ (Criminal) No. 1/2019.

The note says the Court directed the establishment of exclusive Special Courts in districts with more than 100 pending cases under the POCSO Act, 2012. The Central Government then launched the scheme for dedicated FTSCs, including exclusive POCSO courts, with the emphasis on time-bound disposal of pending rape and POCSO cases.

That 100-pending-cases direction is the 2019 order, as the note records it. The 4 November approval does not restate "more than 100" as the test for the additional districts. It says those districts are to be identified on pendency of rape and POCSO Act cases. This piece keeps the 2019 direction and the 2026 expansion test as two sentences, because the note does.

Hindustan Times shortens the origin to: launched on 2 October 2019, following a Supreme Court directive, and now covering 29 states and Union territories. It does not, in the copy read here, name the writ number or the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act.

The note also says the scheme has strengthened the judicial response to sexual offences by providing dedicated courts, and that another five years is expected to strengthen institutional capacity, reduce pendency, and bring timely justice, particularly for women and children. Those are the note's expectation lines.

The launch date: 2 October in the PIB note, 10 October in The Hindu

Two dates are in print for the start of the scheme.

Source	Launch date it states
PIB note, including the status table and the background paragraph	02.10.2019, which is 2 October 2019
Hindustan Times / PTI	October 2, 2019
The Hindu (Sreeparna Chakrabarty)	October 10, 2019 ("operational since October 10, 2019")

The Hindu uses 10 October 2019 in that one line. Its other figures in the body match the PIB note: the Rs 3,788.04 crore outlay, the two shares, the Nirbhaya Fund, 779 functional courts including 399 exclusive POCSO courts, 4,02,457 cases disposed, the move to 850 courts on pendency data, the staffing provision, the one-year launch, and the extension up to 31 March 2026.

The Hindu photo caption uses a rounded disposal line, more than 4.02 lakh cases. The body of the same story uses 4,02,457. Hindustan Times uses over 4.02 lakh. 4,02,457 is the count this explainer leads with, because it is the figure in the PIB note and in the Hindu body. The rounded lines describe that count. They do not add a second official total.

This explainer follows 2 October 2019, the date in the PIB note. The stories read here do not explain the eight-day gap.

What Vaishnaw said at the briefing

Hindustan Times, in the PTI copy, reports two lines from Ashwini Vaishnaw at the Cabinet briefing that are not in the PIB note.

He said the government is committed to firmly dealing with cases of atrocities against women and children. He said the decision is part of efforts to fully utilise and implement prevailing laws and draft new legislations to deal with such cases.

The second sentence is his framing of the decision, as HT reports it. The PIB note of this approval is a continuation of the existing FTSC scheme. It does not, in the text posted at 3:45 pm IST, announce a new bill. "Draft new legislations" stays attributed to the minister's briefing, via Hindustan Times.

The Hindu story of the scheme extension, as read here, does not quote Vaishnaw.

The same Cabinet afternoon

The fast track courts decision was one item from the Cabinet meeting of 4 November 2026. Same-day reports of Ashwini Vaishnaw's briefing, including in The Economic Times and BusinessToday, placed the 850 courts on the same list as other approvals of that afternoon.

Those decisions are set out in separate explainers:

• Cabinet 92 GWh Grid-Scale Energy Storage VGF Scheme, Explained, the viability gap funding scheme for grid-scale storage. The PIB note for that scheme was posted at 3:38 pm IST, seven minutes before the FTSC note.
• Cabinet Approves Rs 2,814 Crore Capex Scheme for Lithium and Nickel, Explained, posted by PIB at 3:29 pm IST.
• Agniveer Two-Year Extension and Second Tour of Duty, Explained.

The storage explainer records The Economic Times as reporting that Vaishnaw announced the 850 fast track courts, for cases related to child abuse and rape, alongside a pathway for Agniveers. The terms of those three decisions are in the explainers linked above.

What to watch next

1. The district list. The PIB note says additional districts will be identified on the pendency of rape and POCSO cases, and that the expansion from 779 to 850 rests on case pendency data. A state-wise or district-wise list was not in the note or in the Hindu and Hindustan Times stories read here.
2. How many of the 850 are exclusive POCSO courts. The current stock is stated: 399 exclusive POCSO courts inside 779 functional FTSCs. The proposed 850 is "including exclusive POCSO courts," without a new exclusive-court count.
3. The launch-date line in The Hindu. The PIB note and Hindustan Times say 2 October 2019. The Hindu says 10 October 2019. A correction, or a later government note, would show which date the ministry wants on the record. Until then, this piece follows the PIB note.
4. Expenditure statements and the central share. The Department of Justice is to watch spending through expenditure statements, the FTSC Dashboard, and progress reports. The Rs 2,353.15 crore central share is the Nirbhaya Fund figure. Releases against that share were not broken out in these texts.
5. Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres. The scheme encourages VWDCs and child-friendly court spaces. The note does not say how many such centres already exist, or how many the five-year continuation is expected to add.
6. Disposal after the expansion. The aim in the note is a higher disposal rate, lower pendency, and time-bound trials. The baseline it does print is 4,02,457 cases disposed since inception. It does not print cases still pending, and it does not print a conviction rate.
7. The prosecutor line. The implementation section says a specialised special public prosecutor will be assigned exclusively to each FTSC. Orders that show whether that is new staffing, or a restatement of the prosecutor already in the features list, were not in the 4 November copies.

The Cabinet has kept dedicated courts for rape and POCSO cases in place through 31 March 2031, with a provision for 850 Fast Track Special Courts and a central share of Rs 2,353.15 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund.

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This explainer draws on the Press Information Bureau note "Cabinet approves continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for expeditious trial of cases of rape and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act for a further period of five years (FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31)" (PIB Delhi, posted 4 November 2026, 3:45 pm IST, Ministry of Law and Justice, PRID 2332498). The same text is posted on the Prime Minister of India's website, dated 4 November 2026. The outlay of Rs 3,788.04 crore, the central share of Rs 2,353.15 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund, the State and UT share of Rs 1,434.89 crore, the provision for 850 courts, the 779 functional courts including 399 exclusive POCSO courts, the 29 participating States and Union Territories, the 4,02,457 cases disposed, the 2 October 2019 launch, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, the Supreme Court directions of 25 July 2019 in Suo Motu Writ (Criminal) No. 1/2019, the districts-with-more-than-100-pending-POCSO-cases direction, the one-year original term, the extension up to 31 March 2026, the staffing lines, the Department of Justice, the FTSC Dashboard, VWDCs, and the named beneficiaries are from that note. The Hindu (Sreeparna Chakrabarty), "Cabinet extends Fast Track Special Courts scheme by five years", published 4 November 2026, 6:39 pm IST, updated 6:45 pm IST, is cited for the matching body figures, for the headline rounding to Rs 3,788 crore, for the photo-caption line "more than 4.02 lakh", and for the launch line "operational since October 10, 2019". Hindustan Times (PTI, updated 4 November 2026, 16:48 IST) is cited for Ashwini Vaishnaw's briefing lines, for the official statement on outlay, staffing, the Nirbhaya Fund, and pendency-based districts, for the 2 October 2019 launch, for 29 states and Union territories, and for the "over 4.02 lakh" disposal line. The Economic Times and BusinessToday are cited, including as recorded in the BharatBeat storage explainer, for placing the 850 courts on the same Cabinet briefing list as the other 4 November decisions. Where a detail appears in one outlet and not in the PIB note, the sentence names that outlet. No conviction rate, pending-case total, or state-wise court list was in the copies read for this piece.