Delhi government today said it will create women safety groups for all constituencies and ensure adequate lighting at around 42,000 'dark spots' as it set aside Rs 1,068 crore in its 2016-17 budget to promote women's security and empowerment.
While Rs 200 crore was earmarked for the women safety groups another Rs 114 crore was set aside to ensure adequate lighting at around 42,000 dark spots in the national capital.
The government also announced an initial allocation of Rs 200 crore as part of a new scheme for installing CCTV cameras and surveillance systems throughout Delhi.
Presenting the Rs 46,600 crore budget for 2016-17 in Delhi Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Rs 1,068 crore has been allocated for women's safety, security and empowerment.
"A 'Mohalla Rakshak Dal' of civil defence volunteers has been set up in the Karawal Nagar Assembly constituency as part of a pilot scheme. These efforts have received a warm welcome from the local residents and Delhi Police," he said.
The government, Sisodia said, proposes "to set up Mohalla Rakshak Dals in all Assembly constituencies and Rs 200 crore has been allotted for the same".
After around 42,000 dark spots were identified on 421 road stretches with the help of multiple agencies, including Delhi Police and women's safety NGOs, a provision of Rs 114 crore has been made for providing adequate lighting at these spots, he added.
On the Rs 200 crore allotment for the new CCTV scheme, the deputy chief minister said, "I admit that the amount allotted at this moment is insufficient... More allotment will be done with further research and analysis in the coming time."
Sisodia said that CCTV cameras have been installed on 200 DTC buses while a free Wi-Fi service was launched in December 2015 in some of them on a pilot basis. Wi-Fi services, GPS and CCTV cameras will soon be provided in all DTC and cluster buses, he added.
The government has made it mandatory for all public vehicles, including taxis, to install GPS and has also deputed 4,000 marshals for DTC buses, he said. In the last budget, the government had allotted Rs 160 crore for installing GPS and deploying marshals.
The government also proposed that a working women's hostel be set up in southwest Delhi's Dwarka area, which should start functioning in the next fiscal even as three other such facilities are being planned at Dilshad Garden, Pitampura and Vasant village.
"A hostel at Dwarka with a capacity to accommodate 50 working women will be made functional in 2016-17. Work on three working women's hostels to accommodate 200 more will be started at Dilshad Garden, Pitampura and Vasant Gaon," he said.
While presenting the last budget, the AAP government had highlighted the acute shortage of working women's hostels in the city and said it is planning to construct six such hostels with active participation from the private sector.
Under the women's security, safety and empowerment category, priority areas in last year's budget included betterment of Anganwadi centres and development of creche facilities, particularly in slums, JJ clusters and rehabilitation colonies, among others.
