In House, call to Centre: ‘Let’s make Delhi safer’
DAY 1 Govt, Opposition spar over women’s safety, corruption, control over police
NEW DELHI : The horrific rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad sparked a debate on women’s safety on day one of the Delhi Assembly’s winter session on Monday. While the House passed a resolution urging the Centre to fill vacant posts in the Delhi police, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called on Union home minster Amit Shah to collectively address the issue of women’s safety in the national capital.
Joining the debate in the House, Kejriwal also asked deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to introduce a sensitisation course for boys in schools if need be. Urging Shah to “rise above politics”, Kejriwal said, “In Delhi, the police, and law and order come under the central government. If anyone goes to the police, he doesn’t get help. There is corruption. It is a fact of life which can be fixed. Let us (Delhi government and Centre) sit together and address the problem. It doesn’t feel good to hear Delhi being called the crime capital of India.”
The chief minister also urged the judiciary to create a system in which rape cases are resolved within six months so that criminals get the message that such incidents will not be tolerated.
However, leader of the opposition Vijender Gupta said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government did little on its part to ensure safety of women in the city.
“In the past five years, this government did nothing to improve last mile connectivity in Delhi. The AAP government also failed to remove dark spots from the city. In fact, it never even shifted to economical and power saving LED street lights on roads maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD),” he said.
Replyingtogupta’sstatement, Kejriwal listed out works carried out by his government to make women feel safer in the city.
“The Delhi government is installing 2.8 lakh CCTV cameras across Delhi on a war footing only out of concern for women. In the first phase, 1.4 lakh cameras were to be installed, of which we have installed put 1.05 lakh cameras at different locations across the city. Now, we are also installing 2 lakh streetlights after which all dark spots will go away,” he said.
In buses, marshals have been deployed, chief minister Kejriwal said.
“I am getting several reports in which our marshals and CCTV cameras have helped the police solve crime cases. We hope the measures act as a deterrent and reduce instances of crimes in the city. The leader of the opposition talked about improving last mile connectivity. We are working on that too,” Kejriwal said.
Later, the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution by voice vote. “The Government of India should immediately fill up all the vacant posts in the Delhi Police and strengthen its working so that it can instil confidence in the people of Delhi which is lacking as on date,” read the resolution moved by AAP MLA from Dwarka, Adarsh Shastri.