CCTVs, cleanliness and streetlights top wishlist for women
and cleanliness are two key issues women voted for in Sunday’s Delhi municipal elections.
Most women Hindustan Times interviewed said they knew policing did not come under the municipal corporations but believed that the civic authorities can do a lot to ensure their safety.
With an electorate of almost 59 lakh, women this time came out in large numbers to vote for the candidate they thought could help them.
Expressing concern over encroachments near her house, 20-year old Smita, a resident of Safdarjung Enclave, said, “As I am in the choreography team of my college, I often return home in the evening. Walking home gets quite uncomfortable as the footpaths have been encroached and people lying there stare at me.”
The women of RK Puram, on the other hand, have a unique problem. “There are streetlights here but they cannot be switched on because the main operating box was stolen by someone. My granddaughter and every woman in the area should be able to walk around in the colony even at night without any fear,” said 73-year old Urmila Devi.
Explaining how the municipal corporations can lay a role in ensuring safety, a number of women suggested that they could install CCTV cameras in public spaces.
“Streetlights are not working at several stretches in my neighbourhood. Parks could have better security arrangements such as guards and CCTV cameras at the entrance and exit points,” said Radhika Singh, a voter in Tilak Nagar, west Delhi.
Cleanliness is another issue women felt strongly about. Voters in Dwarka were quick to point out that the roads in their areas were cleaner on Sunday compared to other days.
“Voting ke din roads saaf rehte hai. Baaki ke din nahi (Roads are cleaned on the day of voting, but otherwise they remain dirty),” said 41-year-old homemaker Mamta Patil, a resident of Dwarka sector 5.
Meenakshi, a Janakpuri voter, said she was tired of garbage all around. “I have voted in the hope that my locality will be cleaner in the future,” she said.
53-year old Manju, a resident of Razapur, said, “For me sanitation is the most important issue. Where I live there is garbage everywhere and I fear my kids will catch some disease, so that needs to be cleaned,” Manju said.
If people are fed up with filth, dumps of garbage, corruption, people should vote against them. Public has been voting for the BJP for the last 10 years. Be it MCD byelections, Punjab, Goa, LS elections, Kejriwal government has lost them all. They do politics of tussle and abuse and I don’t think this will bring development. He thinks people of Delhi are fools.