Identify 500 women who could be trained to drive public transport vehicles Delhi LG to officials

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena directed officials to identify 500 women in the national capital who would be interested in taking up driving of public transport vehicles, Raj Niwas officials said on Friday.
     Saxena chaired the 19th meeting of the 'Task Force on Women Safety in Delhi' and issued specific instructions, they added.
     The LG called for an immediate 15-day special drive in all departments and offices of Delhi government to identify the available dark spots, and fix it within a fortnight, an official said.
     "Considering such sites as the most vulnerable spots, the LG asked for 'before and after' pictures of this campaign to be sent to the LG Secretariat so that it can be monitored," the official said.
     Delhi Police was also asked to do a fresh audit of dark spots in the city, especially near bus stops, he added.
     The LG also asked the task force to identify 500 women in Delhi who could be trained to drive public transport vehicles.
     The transport department informed that so far there are 660 women drivers of three-wheeler autos, 96 women drivers of DTC buses and 1,100 bus conductors.
     During the meeting, Saxena was informed that an audit by Safetipin had identified 1,406 dark spots that needed to be illuminated, to which the MCD commissioner said that of these, 1,158 dark spots have been lit up.
     The LG expressing concern directed the MCD commissioner to complete the work within the next one month. SafetiPin is a safety mobile app that crowdsources information about safety and the lack of it in public spaces, according to its website.
     The transport department also informed that panic buttons in 1,121 buses have already been installed but it needs to be integrated with emergency call number 112, the official said.
     The LG instructed the concerned departments, including the transport department to solve the issue and ensure that all safety measures are put in place and made functional.
     Delhi Police informed the LG during the meeting that 10,000 AI-enabled CCTV cameras have been installed at strategic locations in the city and 15 all-women PCR vans had been placed to help women in distress. Fifteen Cyber Crime police stations have also been made functional in Delhi, the official said.
     Delhi Police said that till August 2024, counselling of 18,102 male students has also been done to foster a culture of respect and gender equality, according to the official.
     The LG asked the Delhi Police to ensure that policemen in PCR vans remain alert to deal with any untoward incident in real time.
     Saxena directed that all the floors of office buildings, hospitals and educational institutions must be monitored and washrooms in all such buildings must be made clean and safe for their use by women.
     He also directed the education department to expeditiously revise the gender-sensitive curriculum, since the same had been pending for long.
     The LG expressed concern over the underutilisation of 'Sakhi One-Stop Centres' and called for urgent measures to address funding shortages and improve their functionality.
     Saxena underlined that even though policing could deter crime, to achieve the larger goal of women safety and security, a comprehensive change in social mindset and basic approach of men towards women, needed to be brought about.
     He stressed upon the need to augment campaigns of sensitising young and adolescent boys through gender workshops and suitably amended curricula by the education department and other concerned agencies, with the view of mitigating social mores and practices that encourage objectification of women, the official said.
     Responding to the meeting on women safety, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said that crimes against women have seen a "sharp rise" since Saxena has taken charge as the LG of Delhi.
     "Despite the constant roadblocks created in the functioning of the elected government, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has identified dark spots and installed over two lakh LED lights in Delhi," it said in a statement.
     The LG is directly responsible for the deteriorating law and order in Delhi, the party said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)