HYDERABAD: It has been six years since the ‘Nirbhaya’ gang-rape case that shook the national capital took place. There has rarely been a case that brought to light the gaping holes in India’s public transport systems, especially in terms of safety for women, as the Nirbhaya case did. Closer home, the State capital’s primary public modes of commute show little or no improvement on this front. Not even basic features like CCTV coverage and emergency buttons are provided in most vehicles.
Only 200 of the 3,000-odd buses in Hyderabad are installed with CCTV cameras while none of them have an emergency distress button. Senior bus drivers are of the view that though the cameras are for safety of the commuters, most of the drivers see them as a tool for restriction instead.
“The cameras when initially fitted seemed to be used by the department only to further penalise and catch the drivers and conductors, so from the drivers end the interest and correct usage of the equipment has not trickled in,” noted a senior driver from RTC on the condition of anonymity. There is thus a need of greater awareness among the staff.
When compared to the neighbouring State of Karnataka, where the recently launched ‘Durga Alarms’ trigger warning alarms within the bus, were successfully installed in at least 150 buses, Telangana is yet to see even one.
These measures gain further importance, even in the absence of major harassment reported, because the overall usability of public transport continues to be low and shrouded in fear. According to a report published by Save the Children, titled ‘WINGS 2018: World of India’s Girls - A study on the perception of girls’ safety in public spaces’, one in two adolescents do not use public transport fearing their safety.
Promises were made. But were they kept?
In 2016, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways established a Nirbhaya Fund to make public transport more women-friendly with features like CCTV coverage in major public places, public transport, trigger alarms in RTC buses, transit homes for single women travellers to be added to public transport. In the first phase, 32 cities of 13 States were targeted to be covered.
Telangana recently recieved Rs 282 crores under the fund. “We have received over Rs 282 crores from the Centre and the works on putting all these facilities in place (the public transport) have begun. Apart from that, we are also working on getting transit homes made for solo women travellers,” noted Swati Lakra, IG, Women’s Safety and She Teams.