Andhra Pradesh government committed to safety of women: Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharitha

Amaravati: The State government is committed for the implementation of the Disha Act and has brought special police stations, fast-track courts, and forensic labs, while there was no safety for women during TDP term, Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharitha said.

Refuting the allegations of opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu on the implementation of Disha Act, the Minister said that the Andhra Pradesh Disha Bill 2019 ( AP Criminal Law Amendment Act 2019)l, which proposes expeditious trial and verdict within 21 working days and death penalty for rape, was awaiting the President's consent. Once the decks are cleared and it gets the approval of the President, it will be enforced.

As many as 5.80 lakh people have downloaded the Disha App and so far 71,700 SOS calls were logged. Around 19,824 have utilised track my travel option in the App. As on date, 470 complaints were lodged under Disha Act and 103 of them are already in the process of the judiciary.

The Minister asserted that the State government is very much committed to the safety of women in the State and thus established 18 Disha police stations, special courts at the district level, and even issued notification for the recruitment of staff required. The previous TDP government had miserably failed in taking action against the accused in Vanajakshi and Rishiteswari cases. Now TDP is making false allegations against the government citing Dalit issues. Chandrababu Naidu backstabbed the Dalits during his regime and now interrupts the welfare schemes for Dalits by filing petitions in Courts.

Like never before by any State government, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has provided 50 per cent reservations to BC, SC, ST and Minorities, for their uplift. But TDP leaders have opposed even this and approached courts. Chandrababu Naidu used Dalits only for his political mileage but never bothered about their welfare. Now he is even trying to put disputes among the castes and bring uncertainty among them.