Women Safety: Odisha To Install Emergency Buttons and Tracking Device In Buses

Bhubaneswar: In order to make travel in public transport more secure and safe for the passengers, specially women and children, Odisha government will install emergency buttons in all buses. The emergency buttons will be connected to the police control room via internet and any passenger who feels insecure can press the button and alert the police. The distress call will be taken care immediately. With this step, incidents such as eve-teasing and sexual harassment can be avoided immediately.

According to Transport minister Padmanabha Behera, the buses will also be fitted with Vehicle Location Tracking Devices so that their movement can be monitored and in case of emergencies, they can be reached immediately. “Online location tracking device will help in securing the safety of passengers and we are going to implement it soon, he said.

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had earlier in 2016 written to all the states to fit public transport vehicles with VLT devices and emergency buttons for passenger safety. But many states have implement it citing fund crunch. Now the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to fund the initiative through Nirbhaya Fund wherein the states have to bear 40 percent of the expenditure.

The state government has speeded up the process to implement this with the Additional Secretary of Commerce and Transport Department writing a letter to the Transport Commissioner to submit a detailed proposal in this regard.