Possibility to integrate buses' panic buttons with safety app
New Delhi: To discuss the actionable points identified by the "Study Report on Women Safety in the NCT of Delhi in respect of transport department", a meeting was held in the National Capital.
Sources claimed that the meeting was held on January 15 under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary (Home), GNCT of Delhi. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Delhi Police, Delhi Government and other important persons. "Principal Secretary (Home) sought details about the action taken on the installation of GPS, CCTV and a panic button in all DTC, cluster buses and private carriages," sources added.
Sources further disclosed that Special Commissioner (Transport) informed that Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has notified that all public transport vehicles will mandatorily have panic buttons before they are registered. An official said that the tender has been issued for installation of panic buttons in existing buses.
The members in the meeting wanted to know the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) about the location of the panic button, the mechanism to alert police and the possibility of integration with Himmat Application of Delhi Police. "Members also desired to see working prototype installed in the bus to see if panic buttons are easily accessible to any woman in distress," sources further claimed. Special Commissioner (transport) assured that the demo will be organised within a week. The Delhi Police data claimed that so far 1,77,304 persons have downloaded and 89,079 persons registered on Himmat Plus App. It is also integrated with Quick Response (QR) Code of Taxi/auto drivers.
One of the Special Commissioners from Delhi Police who attended the meeting stressed on dovetailing panic buttons with the National Emergency Response System (NERS) 112. "It was decided that a meeting will be held with Joint Commissioner of Police (PCR), Special Commissioner of Police (Ops) to formulate an integration plan of such panic calls. On the central database of drivers, Special Commissioner (Transport) informed that the same will be ready by January 31.
Since 2016, more than 6,000 persons have been arrested on rape charges. According to Delhi Police, 2,043 cases of rape, 3175–molestation and 569–eve teasing cases were reported last year. "A high solving in rape cases (94.76%), molestation of women cases (85.95%) and insult to the modesty of women (84.01%) were achieved. Maximum attention is to solve incidents of rape crimes against the women at the earliest. In such cases, about 63% of the accused are arrested within the first two weeks," Delhi Police annual report claimed.
