Headlines
Delhi polls: Women candidates promise the moon on security
New Delhi, Feb 1
With women's security being
such a big issue in the capital, women candidates in the Feb 7 Delhi
assembly polls are promising the moon as far as women's security is
concerned. CCTV cameras and marshals in public transport, gender
sensitization training for men and even random calls to drivers of cabs
with female passengers to check on their safety are just some of the
promises they are making to woo the voters.
The Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) has pinned its chief ministerial candidate, former IPS
officer Kiran Bedi, as the best bet for improving security for women in
the capital.
The national capital, which has the unflattering
reputation of having one of the worst track records as far as women's
security is concerned and is dubbed as the "rape capital", has only 19
women candidates - out of 673 - for the elections.
Despite being
more than vocal about women related issues, the three major parties -
the BJP, AAP and Congress - have fielded only eight, six and five
candidates respectively. Delhi has 70 assembly seats. There are 13.3
million voters, of whom 5.9 million are women.
Congress turncoat
and BJP candidate from Patel Nagar Krishna Tirath said: "Women's
security is definitely a major issue. The root cause of all trouble is
the declining sex-ratio and social evils like dowry."
Tirath, a
former woman and child development minister in the UPA government, told
IANS: "When I was a minister at the centre, then I had launched a scheme
called 'saksham' for boys, which was aimed at counselling them on
gender parity.
"I would propose to bring in the same scheme in
Delhi. Once we address this issue, then the situation on women's
security will automatically improve," she said.
Former BJP
councillor and candidate from the Timarpur assembly constituency, Rajni
Abby, said all laws made for women need to be properly implemented.
"Prosecution in such cases should be fast," Abby told IANS.
She
said innovative measures like more CCTV cameras for the entire city
would also be explored. "If so many cameras can be put up for the visit
of (US) President (Barack) Obama, then why not every day for women's
security?"
Abby also has innovative proposals like making mothers and sisters of rape accused apply for their bail.
Last
but not the least, she said that the BJP's chief ministerial candidate
Kiran Bedi has been in the police and has been a long-time champion of
women's security.
"She is the best bet to make Delhi safer for
women. This (Bedi as chief minister) sends a clear message how seriously
we take this issue," she added.
As far CCTV cameras go, they seem to be the common promise of all parties.
According
to Congress candidate from Greater Kailash and President Pranab
Mukherjee's daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee, very strong and concerted
efforts have to be made by the state and the police for women's
security.
"Delhi Police have to increase the number of personnel
on public transport. CCTV cameras have to be installed in public
transport and not only this, they also have to be monitored," Mukherjee
told IANS.
She promised an increase in the number of home guards and more women security personnel.
"We will also run gender sensitization programmes at all levels," she added.
The
first-time candidate proposed monitoring of all taxis, which are hired
by women passengers. "Why can't random calls be made to the drivers and
women passengers to ensure their safety," she asked.
Asked about
BJP fielding Bedi for the chief minister's post, Mukherjee said: "Kiran
Bedi has been involved with the women's movement, but when you elect a
chief minister there are different things involved."
Kiran Walia,
a Congress candidate and former health and women and child development
minister in the Delhi government, said that it was her party that had
introduced major schemes for women's security in the capital during its
15-year regime that ended in Dec 2013.
"The (successor) 49-day
AAP government had discontinued most of them," Walia, who is contesting
from the New Delhi constituency, told IANS.
The AAP's Bandana
Kumari said her party has always stood for women's security, adding that
if her party is voted to power, a special women's security force with
10,000 personnel would be raised.
"We will also deploy marshals
in public transport to ensure the best possible security for women,"
Bandana Kumari, who is contesting from Shalimar Bagh, told IANS.
(Sreeparna Chakrabarty can be contacted at [email protected])