The `1,000 crore Nirbhaya fund created by the UPA Government after the December 16, 2013 Delhi gangrape case of a para-medical student may finally be put to use. After the recent Uber Cabs incident in Delhi, where a woman passenger was raped in a cab, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has readied a Cabinet note to put together a comprehensive vehicle tracking system. The Ministry has proposed to set up control centres to monitor all public transport plying on roads.
“We want to set up a GPS system under the National Authority of Road Safety. The body will function as a unified offense mechanism where all information will be electronically transmitted to police stations and PCRs, so that time is not lost in rescuing the victim,” said an official. The Ministry officials also had a meeting last week to discuss measures to help women passengers in public vehicles.
“We want to put in place a system to ensure that women are safe in public transport. We will ensure all public transport is GPS device fitted and can be tracked in case of any kind of suspicious movement,” said an official. The tracking system is proposed to be launched in 32 cities across India.
“The Centre can only put together a mechanism to track vehicles and but implementation has to be done by the state with co-ordination from their local police,” said the official adding arranging manpower and other formalities will also be handled by the State,” he said. In the case of taxi fleets, the Government will ask individual aggregators and owners to ensure that they have GPS devices fitted in all vehicles.
“In case of any untoward event, the company will be held liable under the existing law. The management will be held liable,” said the official adding although, the actual implementation will have to happen locally, as law and order is a State subject.