BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar is among the seven safest cities for women in India, according to the National Annual Report & Index on Women’s Safety (NARI)-2025, released by the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Thursday.
It is the first perception-based report on women’s safety based on insights from 12,770 women across 31 cities, including Bhubaneswar. The report stated that Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar and Mumbai have emerged as the safest cities in the country for women.
According to the report, the ‘national safety perception’ score was 64.6 per cent (pc) and the index used this percentage as a base to categorise cities as ‘much above, above, at, below, or much below’ benchmarks. Bhubaneswar along with the six other cities are on the top of the national safety ranking because of their higher gender equity, infrastructure, policing, and civic participation.
Bhubaneswar has bagged the third spot with a national safety perception score of 70.9 pc, which is higher than the country average of 64.6 pc. Kohima is on the top spot with 82.9 pc and Visakhapatnam on second spot with 72.7 pc.
Officials in the NCW said the analysis goes beyond general impressions to explore how feelings of safety fluctuate between daytime and night. It also evaluated whether the city’s infrastructure meets women’s needs and assesses their trust in local authorities to address safety concerns promptly and effectively.
To one of the queries on what makes women feel safe in the city, they attributed it to police patrolling, people in general, display of emergency contacts in public transport and low crime rate. The report further states that Bhubaneswar has a responsive institution model and an active crime prevention system and the city spends on inclusive urban planning, safe public transport system, streetlights, and women-friendly programs.
However, safety perceptions in Bhubaneswar shift dramatically from day to night. During the day, 80 pc of women feel safe or highly safe. The city benefits from strong daytime safety, visible institutional presence (police patrolling), and a high degree of trust in public systems. But at night, this drops to 48 pc, with 29 pc reporting feeling unsafe or highly unsafe, highlighting ongoing concerns about public safety.