Government proposes 'safe city' plan for women
Rajiv Gauba
The meeting was also attended by Municipal commissioners, police commissioners, senior state government officials and civil society representatives.?
A detailed 'safe-city' plan for women will soon be undertaken in eight metropolises including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Hyderabad and will shortly include numerous emergency response systems along with transport authenticated by the police, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba announced on Wednesday.
The meeting was also attended by Municipal commissioners, police commissioners, senior state government officials and civil society representatives.
With the increasing number of rape and related cases in India, the call for a robust plan was taken into account.
The number of rape cases alone in India mounted to over 35,000 in number, with around 376 cases solely in Delhi - till March 2017, according to reports by Delhi Police and National Crime Records Bureau.
The issues which have come up for discussioninclude 33 per cent reservation of women in police, installation of CCTV cameras, deployment of women in police stations, emergency response system, police verified public transport, prevention of cybercrime, infrastructure issues, mapping of dark spots and crime-prone areas and involvement of educational institutions, among others.
Various steps towards women safety were also discussed, including the 'Himmat' app, 'shishtachar' programme of Delhi Police; 'Hawkeye' mobile app and 'Bharosa' programme of Hyderabad Police; 'Suraksha' app of Bengaluru Police and Power Angels of UP police.
Initiatives taken up by other cities comprised of mobile counseling vans for listening to complaints, installing additional lights in remote areas - mostly railway stations - adding complaint boxed where women could write anonymously and submit, various awareness programmes and conferences organized by the police as well as building shelter for women.
Moreover, steps for comprehensive use of social media for women's safety and means to reduce response time were discussed.
Other than that, adding additional CCTV and creating integrated command and control centers which will be under constant monitoring was also discussed. This integration should be in a time-bound and phased manner, Gauba said.
The plan of action will be constructed by the police and municipal corporations of the eight cities and forwarded by the subsequent state-level committee headed by the chief secretary of the state.
The plan of action is to be submitted by these cities within a month and will be assessed by the Steering Committee headed by the Union Home Secretary, which will make suitable recommendations.
(With inputs from PTI)