Nirbhaya Fund gets approval to create safe cities

Under the Nirbhaya Fund, the Centre has approved projects worth Rs 2,919 crore on Thursday for creating ’safe cities’ with a special intent to focus on women safety in public spaces.

Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow are the eight cities that will take these initiatives.

Since 2013, the corpus of Nirbhaya Fund has grown to Rs 3,100 crore. For 2018-19, another Rs 500 crore has been set aside.

A user trial of the panic button feature on mobile phones has been approved in Uttar Pradesh which will commence sometime later this month.

A model forensic science laboratory has also been sanctioned in Chandigarh.

These plans for safe cities have been made with municipal corporations and police commissionerates of the cities coordinating together.

For example, to enhance the safety of public places such as roads, schools and metro station, a project worth Rs 663 crore has been approved in Delhi where latest technology such as video monitoring, facial recognition analytics, and person tracking systems will be put in force.

Further, Delhi Police will have an addition of dedicated women safety patrol vans which will be equipped with GPS tracking and onboard video feed sharing.

In Mumbai, GIS mapping of criminal hotspots, training of investigating officers, quick response police teams and video surveillance will be part of the sanctioned project worth Rs 252 crore.

Chennai will receive Rs 425 crore for a project that includes GIS-based crime mapping, the creation of safe-zone clusters at hot crime zones, security in public transport, capacity building of police authorities, a helpdesk service for women, a cybercrime and legal assistance compensation lab.

The proposal in Ahmedabad worth Rs 253 crore includes ABHAYAM Vans for quick response to women in distress, ‘She Teams’ of women for surveillance, One Stop Crisis Centres and redevelopment of the Sabarmati River Front to make it women-friendly.

Rs 181.32 crore has been sanctioned various schemes, including for strengthening nine women police stations in Kolkata while Bengaluru gets projects Rs 667 crore for setting up women police outposts and creation of safety islands.