TNS India survey for Delhi polls: Women safety high on agenda

NEW DELHI: Women's safety is the topmost issue in the minds of people living in the Capital today. The TNS India survey, conducted a few days before the Uber-rape incident, highlights this growing concern. Government figures say incidents of rape in Delhi in November 2014 were 15% more when compared to November 2012.

The long list of complaints that Women's groups have includes non-utilisation of the Rs 1,000 crore Nirbhaya Fund set up by UPA and the thin woman representation in Delhi Police. All DTC buses and auto-rickshaws were to be fitted with GPS, but it has not been done. Subways or 'underpasses' are still unsafe and several parts of the city are still poorly-lit, making them danger-zones for women. All three main parties in Delhi — BJP, AAP and Congress — are aware that they have to find the right way to respond to concerns raised on women safety.

While AAP leaders have promised to install closed-circuit television cameras around the capital and in buses, the Congress has promised to enforce law that already exists. Delhi BJP said it will prioritise women safety over tackling inflation and fixing water and electricity supplies. A few days ago, the Delhi BJP chief wrote to the Centre to start night taxi service by women by utilising the Nirbhaya Fund. It also plans to set up 60 rape crisis centres and has identified 100 localities which need to be well lit.

BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi told ET: "Delhi is peculiar because of its location. Many people come here to work and disappear… There is a certain anonymity that makes it difficult to predict crime. What we need to do is strengthen our response times to alert calls, so that women feel they are not alone."

"Rapes cannot be predicted as it is something even a well-mannered, educated person may commit," says Mohsin Anwar, a film maker. Anwar adds a party like AAP that he says has better connect with the masses will be able to bring a change in society against gender-related crimes.