NEW DELHI: All DTC and cluster buses will be equipped with CCTVs and GPS as per the project conceived. The Delhi government will not wait for the financial assistance from the centre’sNirbhaya fund.
A private consultancy firm recently submitted a detailed Delhi Project Report (DPR) and the government will soon float a tender. “The Delhi government will go ahead if money from the Nirbhaya Fund is not granted,” said Transport minister Kailash Gahlot. The project had run into controversy earlier this year, when the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development had expressed its unwillingness to release Nirbhaya funds for CCTVs in buses, and questioned the overall efficacy of the proposal.
Gahlot also took on the Centre over the issue, saying its attitude reflects its “non-seriousness about the safety and security of commuters, especially women”.
In June 2017, the Delhi Cabinet had approved the proposal. A statement was issued saying the Rs 140 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund, a corpus formed by the Centre after the 2012 Delhi gangrape, will be used to execute the project.
The Delhi government’s 2018-19 annual budget had also mentioned that the project will be implemented using money allocated from the Nirbhaya fund, with the state also chipping in with its own share.