A year after the Delhi horror: How safe are women in India?

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It's been a year since the ghastly gang rape and murder that shook India was perpetrated on a moving bus on December 16 in Delhi. After unprecedented public outrage that manifested itself in angry protests at India Gate and impassioned discussions on TV and social fora, the government initiated various measures to ensure women's safety. To review the legal framework and suggest further measures, it formed a committee under former chief justice J S Verma. While the government has brought an Ordinance to implement changes in the law, several recommendations of the committee to improve the overall framework to facilitate effective legal enforcement remain on paper even as private sector spending on women's safety has risen. Business Standard takes stock of the various suggestions and their implementation