BENGALURU: In a big move to ensure safety of women on board trains, the Bengaluru unit of the Railway Protection Force on Tuesday extended its safety programme to women passengers from three to ten passenger trains. The Railway Board had last week urged all Railway Divisions to be proactive and launch the Meri Saheli initiative aimed at the protection of women on board trains.
Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF Bengaluru, Debashmita Chattopadhyay Banerjee told TNIE, “We have found through an assessment of crimes, that single women, elderly women with or without care givers, and women with children, are the most vulnerable on trains and in railway stations. We identify the coaches these passengers are allotted with the help of the commercial department staff in advance, and ensure particular attention to them,” she said.
The Bengaluru unit was the first in the country to specifically focus on safety on women through a pilot project focusing on women on Rani Chennamma Express (Bengaluru to Miraj in Maharashtra) a year ago.
“On Rani Chennamma, we offered security up to Hubballi up to which the South Western Railway Division continues.
The sense of security experienced by women passengers and the response was overwhelming. It made us extend our project to Udyan Express (Bangalore-Mumbai) as well as Sanghamitra Express (Bengaluru-Bihar). Our statistics showed that crimes against women dipped by 40% on the trains due to our team’s sustained efforts,” the top cop said. The Bengaluru Division is helped by the fact that three women Sub Inspectors have joined the RPF unit for the first time.
“The three SIs and 20-strong force of women cops will be deployed. They will be on platform duty and will meet women personally since they have been provided the berth and coach numbers in advance,” Banerjee said.‘Operation Shakti’ teams comprising women RPF cops who ensure safety of passengers were launched in Bengaluru, Hubballi and Mysuru Divisions in May 2018.
You can find
Meri Saheli on these trains
KSR Bengaluru-Danapur Express
Bengaluru-Chennai Double Decker Express
Karnataka-Express
Rajdhani Express
KSR-Belagavi-KSR Express
Yesvantpur-Nizammudin Express
Yesvantpur- Shivamogga Express