Cabinet to decide on resource utilisation under Nirbhaya Fund

On the first anniversary of the horrific Delhi gang-rape, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said three proposals had been given in-principal approval to utilise the resources under the Rs 1,000-crore Nirbhaya Fund announced in the last Budget. The Cabinet would soon consider these proposals, by the home ministry, road transport and highways ministry and railways ministry.

The government said it would ask mobile phone companies to introduce an SoS button in all handsets and make public transport vehicles Global Positioning System-enabled to enhance the safety and security of women in the country.

The home ministry has proposed integration of the police administration with the mobile phone network to trace and respond to distress calls with minimum response time. The scheme would be launched in 157 cities in two phases and the expected outlay is Rs 1,000 crore.

“Instructions will be issued by the Ministry of Information Technology to all mobile phone manufacturers to introduce mandatorily, an SoS alert button in all handsets. Manufacturers will also be instructed to launch an SoS alert system in the existing handsets through free downloading of suitable software,” Chidambaram told reporters on Monday.  

The IT ministry has already initiated two projects in this context. The first provides a complete eco-system for assisting women in distress and is being implemented at the Jaipur Police Control Room. The second is being implemented by IIT, Delhi for the development of a personal security device in the form of a wrist watch.

The roads ministry has proposed a scheme with an expected outlay of Rs 1,700 crore, covering 32 towns each with population of over one million to be implemented over two years. Under the scheme, public transport vehicles would compulsorily have GPS, CCTVs and passenger information systems. An on-board GPS unit would be a necessary condition for giving permit. The expected outlay is about Rs 1,700 crore.

The railways ministry is working on a pilot scheme of setting up an SoS alert system in trains in select zones. The facility will cover all service providers from all telecom circles.

The finance minister said the corpus of the fund is expected to be enhanced from time to time.