Centre asks Odisha to expedite women safety transport platform

BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has expressed displeasure on the state government’s “poor progress” in implementation of the vehicle location tracking system in public transport vehicles.
The ministry of road transport and highways has been providing financial assistance from Nirbhaya fund to states to implement the project for the safety of women commuters. The state government has been asked to expedite the women safety project.
“The ministry has already released funds more than a year back. Yet the progress is minimal. I would urge you to accord highest priority to commission the project so that the target of enhancing the safety of women can be achieved,” wrote the ministry’s joint secretary Amit Varadan to the state transport department last month.
Sources said the proposed project’s cost is around Rs 15.40 crore. The Centre and state would share 60% and 40% of the project cost, respectively. Out of the Central share of Rs 9.24 crore, the Centre has released nearly Rs 4.19 crore to the state government.
Under the project, all passenger buses, mini-buses, school buses and cabs/taxis will compulsorily be equipped with the vehicle location tracking (VLT) devices and panic buttons near the seats for the safety of women travellers. Women travellers in distress can press the emergency buttons and expect quick response from the police. A control room or monitoring centre has been set up in Bhubaneswar to receive the alerts from women commuters.
“This ministry has been reviewing the work on a periodic basis. As per the latest review held on October 8, 2021, Odisha updated the status that the selection of an implementing agency was underway. The civil work of the monitoring centre has been completed. But, the state has not proposed any timeline for commissioning of the project,” the ministry’s letter said.
The state government said the project would be rolled out soon. “We will expedite the process of selection of an agency, which would execute the project,” a state transport official said.
It must be noted instances of harassment of female passengers in public transport vehicles have been occurring in regular intervals. Though the state government had in 2015 asked bus owners to install CCTV cameras in their vehicles, the order has not been implemented yet.
“Presence of surveillance cameras can ensure the safety of travellers, mostly girls and women. It will also help police to identify anti-socials travelling by buses,” said Richa Mishra, a student.
Many bus owners expressed difficulty in installing CCTV cameras. “Not many of us can afford the cameras and their maintenance. Besides, there is a possibility of damage to the cameras during accidents,” Sitaram Tripathy, a bus owner said.
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