DPCC DELEGATION MEETS LT. GOVERNOR TO TAKE UP ISSUE OF CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN

On Apr 29, 2015

NEW DELHI, April 29—A delegation of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, led by its president Shri Ajay Maken, met Lt. Governor Dr Najeeb Singh at Raj Niwas today to take up the increasing incidents of crimes against women, which if not promptly checked, would make the lives of women insecure and miserable in the national Capital. Besides Shri Ajay Maken, other members of the delegation included DPCC chief spokesperson Smt. Shramishta Mukherjee, former Women and Child Welfare Minister of Delhi Dr Kiran Walia, chairperson of the Delhi Women’s Commission Smt. Barkha Singh, Smt. Varyam Kaur, leader of the Opposition in the East Delhi MCD, Smt. Onika Mehrotra, president of the Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress, Smt. Darshana Ramkumar, Municipal Councillors Smt. Prerna Singh and Rinku Jayant, Smt Anjana Parcha, Ishwar Jehan, Darshana Jatav, Rekha Rani, Gurmeet Kaur, Abha Choudhary, Savitri Tomar and Anam Hassan.

The Congress delegation brought to the notice of the Lt. Governor that panic has been created after an 11-year-old girl in Bawana was found murdered, possibly a victim of sexual assault, which was a clear indication of the deteriorating law and order situation, and rising graph of crime against women, in Delhi. The DPCC delegation submitted a memorandum to Dr Najeeb Jung, detailing the crimes committed against women in the past few months. According to Delhi Police data, there has been a 32% rise in rape cases and 25% increase in molestation cases in the past one year. In the first two months of 2015 alone, 300 cases of rapes and 500 cases of molestation were reported, in Delhi. Shri Ajay Maken said the Aam Admi Party Government has not yet taken any concrete step towards addressing the mounting incidents of rape and molestation cases. He said the Delhi Police has not only failed to curb crime against women, but as the data clearly shows, there has been a surge in crime against women, which should be checked forthwith. The Congress delegation sought the immediate intervention of the Lt. Governor to find a lasting solution to check harassment and crimes against women.

The DPCC memorandum suggested that the Delhi Government should immediately formulate an Action Plan with a time-frame of one year to stop crimes against women; include representatives of other political parties in the Delhi Dialogue; take immediate action to ensure the safety and security of children in schools and school buses; installing and monitoring of CCTV and GPS in public transport; appointing marshals in DTC buses; re- activating the Gender Resource Centres started in 2011 by the previous Congress Government under the “Awaz Utthao” Scheme for gender sensitization programmes; strict and immediate action against the Aam Aadmi Party legislators and party members for perpetrating any kind of violence against women, including their own family members. Shri Ajay Maken said the 181 helpline, started by the Congress Government to monitor crimes against women, was now totally dysfunctional. He said along with the 181 helpline, the Congress had also started a taxi service named “Sakha” for the helpline employees and the victims, but both were now lying dormant, which should be revived.

The Congress delegation said the Aam Aadmi Party was spending huge amounts of money for putting up hoardings of its Anti-Corruption Helpline No 1031 with the photograph of CM Arvind Kejriwal all over Delhi, and suggested that instead of putting out Kejriwal’s photo, the 181 helpline number should be revived and put it alongside the anti-corruption number, to check crimes against women. Similarly, the “Awas Utthao” scheme for gender sensitization, and for creating a community vigilante group, should also be revived. The Lt. Governor gave a patient hearing and agreed with the DPCC delegation that it was a serious matter, and assured that he would take up the issue with the Delhi Chief Minister and the Delhi Police to address the problem, to check and prevent crime against women.