Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday asked the Public Works Department (PWD) to light up ‘dark spots’ across the capital and decided to bring a proposal to install CCTV cameras soon.
In a meeting of its Cabinet, the AAP Government also took a decision to revise minimum wages in the capital and to “blacklist” contractors who don’t follow the norm in this respect. “Del Cabinet decides 2 revise min wages in del. HODs must ensure workers get min wages. Contractors who don’t pay min wages will b blacklistd. “Cabinet took 2 imp decisions 4 women safety -PWD shud lit up all dark spots in Del n bring a proposal soon to put CCTV cameras all over Del,” Kejriwal tweeted.
According to a press release issued by the AAP Government, the Cabinet also took two important decisions for women’s safety. The PWD has been asked to identify all dark spots in Delhi as soon as possible. Identification of spots where street lights are not present and places where they are installed but are not working has also been ordered. The Urban Development department has to take it up with UlBS (stand for urban local bodies).
The PWD has also been asked to bring a proposal at the earliest to put up CCTV cameras all over the city. The department has been asked to submit a proposal delinking the CCTV cameras from the Wi-Fi project, since women security is one of the top agendas to be implemented by the Government.
It is learnt that over Rs 400 crore is expected to be incur on the project. The AAP Government is also planning to approach Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to this effect to provide fund to the project under Nirbhaya funds.
After the Nirbhaya incident, the Delhi Police carried out a crime mapping of places in the city, which are deemed dangerous for women. The report zeroed in on 274 vulnerable spots and isolated routes, which come under 161 police stations.
Instead of taking action, a wrangle on maintenance, funds and patrolling has broken out between the Public Works Department (PWD) and police, keeping 255 spots at high-risk for women’s safety. In areas like South and North Delhi, which has abundance of trees and shrubbery, it is the PWD’s job to maintain them to prevent overgrowth which could shelter sexual attackers.
In a letter from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office in April this year, to Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi, complaints regarding non-accessibility of beat constables and non-registration of first information reports (FIRs) were also mentioned, a Delhi Government statement said.
The letter asked the Delhi Police to prominently display the names of the beat constables and their contact numbers. The letter said that public complaints about non-registration of FIRs by police were being reported regularly.
In its manifesto, the AAP had promised to install CCTV cameras in DTC buses, bus stands, crowded places to intimidate attackers and deter crime against women.