The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a project, estimated to cost Rs 1,405 crore, to set up public vehicle tracking system across 32 cities in the country and also install GPS, CCTV and panic buttons in public road transport in the country.
The project was considered following the shameful December 16 gang-rape incident in Delhi..
“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved setting up of a unified system at the national level (National Vehicle Security and Tracking System) and State level (City Command and Control Centre) for Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking of the location of emergency buttons in and video recording of incidents in public transport vehicles, in 32 cities of the country with a population of one million or more according to the 2011 census”, a release from the road ministry said.
The government hopes that the project will help the mapping and tracking of public vehicles in addition to highlighting any violation against women. “The project will be implemented within a period of two years after allocation of funds to set up a National Level Vehicle Security and Tracking System and City Command & Control Centre with installation of GPS / CCTV / panic buttons in public road transport”, the statement added.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, as part of the government's proposed Rs 1,000 crore Nirbhaya Fund, had suggested inducting CCTVs in buses and GPS (global positioning system) facility in autos as party of women safety initiatives. The railway ministry is also currently working on a pilot scheme of setting up an SOS alert system in trains in select zones.
