Following a decision taken by the government last month, it has been made mandatory for all cellular phones sold in India to come with a panic button, activated by pressing a single key.
In an effort to make commuting safe for women, public buses across the country will soon be fitted with panic buttons, CCTVs and GPS.
On Wednesday, Road Safety Minister, Nitin Gadkari said: “We issued a draft notification on May 2 to amend the central motor vehicle rules, making the installation of safety devices (on buses) mandatory. We hope to finalise the notification by June.”
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The buses will be fitted with safety devices in India that will have a capacity of 23 passengers. A panic button will be positioned in front of each seat. Said a Road Ministry official: “If a woman in distress presses it, a signal will go to centralised control room and help will be sent.”
The alert will be sent to both the transport department and police. The Global Positioning System (GPS) will aide the response team and track the vehicle’s location, while the camera footage will help catch the predators. Biometric details of drivers and conductors will also be collected.
The project will roll out in phases, ministry officials said. The expenses will be slit between the state and center, the latter’s share coming from Nirbhaya Fund, set up in the memory of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student who succumbed to her injuries after being savagely gang-raped inside a moving bus in Delhi, on December 26, 2012.
The project improvises upon a previous Road Ministry scheme that sought to improve public transport security in 32 towns with populations of over a million.
By Isha Kulkarni
Tags: GPS Public buses Public buses Panic Button Public buses to have CCTV
