The gang rape of a 23-year-old on a moving bus has blown to bits the claims of Delhi government to build a safe city for women through its women’s safety programmes announced and launched with much fanfare over the last few years.
It turns out that the much-publicized plan of the state to equip DTC buses with CCTV cameras has turned out to be a damp squib and authorities have woken up to the realization that there are technical problems and that the cameras in a moving vehicle cannot record data precisely.
Delhi’s social welfare and women and child development minister Kiran Walia now plans to meet officials and agencies involved to find a solution to the problem.
Meanwhile, chief minister Sheila Dikshit tried to soothe angry Delhiites assuring that an awareness campaign will take off soon to create an atmosphere of safety for women. When reminded that the ambitious programmes regarding installation of CCTVs had not taken off and how the ‘Awaaz Uthao’ campaign launched last year at a public function was not effective, the Delhi CM said she will revive the awareness campaign.
In 2010, TOI reported that Delhi government planned to put up stickers with helpline numbers for women and a warning that sexual harassment is a crime in buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws. The closed-circuit cameras in DTC buses are yet to become a reality. The stickers, too, have not been put up.
The measures had been proposed as part of a ‘Safe Delhi’ initiative of the state government in collaboration with UNIFEM, UN Habitat and NGO Jagori to make the city safe and accessible for women and other vulnerable groups.
In March 2011, on a day when the murder of a college student by a youth in the Dhaula Kuan area shocked the city, chief minister Sheila Dikshit had launched a pilot project putting her trust in the local community to make women’s safety a reality in the city under the banner of Awaaz Uthao. The aim was to make collectives that will draw members from within the community who will build awareness, address and act as a link with agencies concerned for safety of girls and women.
The pilot project that has been functional from the beginning of 2012 has grown to have 62 collectives in 15 areas of Delhi so far. Being executed by the state’s Mission Convergence, it proposes to add another 40 collectives this year. However, the momentum of constitution of these collectives is learnt to have got delayed as the Mission got engaged in preparations for the enrollment and launch of the Dikshit government’s ambitious cash-for-food scheme called the Dilli Annshree Yojana.
