NEW DELHI: The AAP entered the landscape of the national capital having trumped political Goliaths with their “targeted promises” that sufficiently swayed voters towards them. Promises like free electricity and water (up to certain limits), women’s safety and free travel in government buses, and “revamping” education and health infrastructure made AAP’s “hands-on approach” resonated with the ground, securing them consecutive majorities in the Assembly polls.
However, as Kejriwal’s third term inches towards conclusion, the concerns that had perhaps prompted voters to bring AAP into power, continues to haunt them.
Safety in the national capital remains a concern. Enduring crime, from most heinous to mundane, is an everyday struggle for Delhi, endangering lives and blotting the city’s reputation. Even though the capital’s law and order does not come under the purview of ruling AAP, they had promised to tackle the grave concern in the previous Assembly polls.
Marshal dilemma
The AAP manifesto had declared that ‘Mohalla marshals’ will be deployed in every colony for round-the-clock vigil for the safety of residents. Approximately 6,000 such Mohallas were identified. With this promised initiative, the AAP pushed for women’s safety, one of the 10 guarantees in its manifesto. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) even launched a pilot project in Burari which received a positive response, particularly among women.
A month after the 2020 polls, erstwhile Women and Child Development (WCD) minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said security guards will be stationed in three shifts, with most number of guards on duty between 10 pm and 4 am. Initially, the WCD was tasked to implement the scheme, but later the responsibility fell upon the Revenue department.
Now, four years since the promise, neither Gautam is associated with the party, nor can Mohalla marshals be seen anywhere. A senior officer of the Directorate of Civil Defence, while speaking to this newspaper, said the scheme of deploying Mohalla marshalls was never implemented. “Initially, during 2020, there were talks about forming a team of civil defence volunteers, but it was never implemented,” the officer said, refraining from any further comment.
Besides, during the 2015 Assembly polls season, the AAP announced that it will deploy marshals in DTC buses for safety of passengers, especially women. Delhi government appointed civil defence volunteers as bus marshalls, a move which received a positive response from the public. Once, a bus marshall, plying on Route 728 from Goyala Dairy to New Delhi, rescued a 6-year-old girl from the clutches of a kidnapper. Bus marshal Arun Kumar drew praise from the Chief Minister and the cabinet over his act. Speaking to us, several women who regularly commute by bus, said the presence of bus marshalls used to give them a “sense of security”.
However, the scheme hit a snag after the Lieutenant Governor terminated the services of all civil defence volunteers working as bus marshals in DTC buses, sparking a fresh bout in the perpetual tussle between the AAP and the L-G. The matter is now subjudice.
CCTV city
Additionally, ahead of the 2020 elections, the incumbent AAP government promised to identify ‘dark spots’ and install streetlights to prevent crimes. Installation of more CCTV cameras was also said to be on the cards. The government has installed 2.46 lakhs CCTV cameras in the national capital, as of December 2023.
While the authorities touted the staggering number of CCTV cameras monitoring the city, many areas continue to suffer from inadequate to almost no lighting ¬– dark spots – which become prone to criminal activities.
One such area is Westend Marg near South Delhi’s Saket metro station, an entire stretch that rmains completely. Mansi Singh living in the area said, “I have to use this road as part of my daily commute to and from the metro station. Since it is pitch black at night, I feel extremely unsafe while walking or travelling in an autorickshaw.”
A major problem city residents are grappling with is street crime; snatching incidents, motor vehicle theft, rash driving cases incrementally rise by the years. The rising cases of snatching, a blatant and brash act, instills a fear of lawlessness among citizens, especially women, who are often forced to avoid going out alone on dark and deserted streets.
While the police may deal with offenders, crime prevention remains a distant dream. However, official data suggests there has been 13.2% decline in snatching cases in the first eight months of 2023, as compared the corresponding period in 2022. The data after August 2023 is still not in the public domain.
Senior police officers say that presuming the upward trend in police data as an increase in crime is “fallacious”. “Rise in crime and increase in registration of crime are clearly two different things. Increase in crime numbers in state police data may in fact be on account of certain citizen-centric police initiatives, like launching of e-FIR facility or women helpdesks,” they said.