Govt. approves Rs 1,405cr project for female safety in public transport

Govt. approves Rs 1,405cr project for female safety in public transportThe government on Thursday approved a Rs. 1,405 crore project to track and monitor public transport and provide the panic buttons for use in an emergency by the female passengers, Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced.

Under the project, a global positioning system (GPS) will be installed at the national and state level to track and monitor public buses in 32 cities. Public transport will also be equipped with video recording-capable cameras and panic buttons for use in any emergency.

Announcing the decision, Mr. Chidambaram told reporters, "The CCEA has approved setting up of a unified system at the national level (National Vehicle Security & Tracking System) and State level (City Command & Control Centre) for GPS tracking of location of emergency buttons in and video recording of incidents in public transport vehicles."

Mr. Chidambaram also said that the project will be implemented within the next two years.

The panic/emergency button will prompt monitoring authorities to alert the nearest police station or patrolling squad about the location of the vehicle.

The new project is a part of the `Nirbhaya Fund,' which was established in February last year in memory of the 23-year-old Delhi gang rape victim. The 23-year old paramedical student was gang-raped and cruelly battered on December 16, 2012 by six persons in a moving bus in the national capital. She died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012.