Cabinet extends fast-track courts for rape and POCSO cases and raises them to 850

The Union Cabinet has extended the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts, which hear rape and POCSO Act cases, for five more years and will raise the number of courts from 779 to 850.

The scheme, which includes exclusive courts for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, will run from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. Its total outlay is ₹3,788.04 crore: ₹2,353.15 crore from the Centre, funded from the Nirbhaya Fund, and ₹1,434.89 crore from states and Union Territories.

What the scheme provides

• Each fast-track court gets a dedicated judicial officer, a Special Public Prosecutor and six support staff.
• The Centre helps states meet the running costs of the courts under the centrally sponsored funding pattern.
• Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres and child-friendly court spaces are encouraged, so victims can testify without added distress.
• The extra courts will be placed in additional districts, chosen on the basis of how many such cases are pending.

The Department of Justice will monitor the courts through the FTSC Dashboard, periodic progress reports and states' expenditure statements, and will take feedback from High Courts and state governments.

Where the scheme stands

According to the release, the scheme began on 2 October 2019, after the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, and a Supreme Court direction of 25 July 2019 to set up exclusive courts in districts with more than 100 pending POCSO cases. It now operates in 29 states and UTs with 779 functional courts, 399 of them exclusive POCSO courts. Since its start, 4,02,457 cases have been disposed of.

The release says the extension is expected to speed up trials, cut pending cases and reduce inequality in access to justice for women and children. It does not give a target for how many cases should be cleared or by when.

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Source: official release by the Cabinet, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (04 NOV 2026 3:34PM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: 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).