Women safety: Road Ministry mulls CCTVs, GPS in public transport

New Delhi: Closed-circuit televisions in buses and GPS facility in autos have been proposed by the Road Ministry to provide women a safer mode of public transport as part of the Rs 1,000 crore `Nirbhaya Fund`.

The Ministry, as part of the government`s proposed Rs 1,000 crore Nirbhaya Fund, will soon send its suggestions to the Ministry of Finance, the custodian of that fund. "Women`s safety in today`s age is our prime concern and this is a step in that direction," a Road Ministry official told a news agency. "We are proposing that all the buses should have CCTVs (closed circuit television) for keeping a close watch on the commuters and that recording will remain in the system for at least a week," the official said. Another proposal is the installation of GPS (Global Positioning System) in the autorickshaws. The Finance Ministry has sought comments from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on these matters. The government also proposes to engage women as drivers for public transport like buses, taxis etc, and guarantee them jobs. "We are working on these suggestions and will send our presentation to the Finance Ministry as soon as possible," the Road Ministry official said. The Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the government in this year`s budget, with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore, for safety and empowerment of women. Nirbhaya (fearless in Hindi) was the pseudonym given to the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape victim to hide her identity. The 23-year old paramedic was gang-raped and brutally assaulted by six persons in a moving bus. She was then thrown out with her male friend. She died in a Singapore hospital on December 29. The Ministry of Women and Child Development and other ministries concerned are also working out on other modalities of the fund. PTI