From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: In a move to ensure safety of women passengers, 28 stations under Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) will now be monitored by close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
High-definition CCTV cameras have been installed at platforms, circulating and waiting areas of important stations with sufficient number of passengers across 13 stations, an official statement, issued here on Wednesday, said.
Union ministry of railways has already decided to provide 19,000 high-definition CCTV cameras at 983 railway stations across the country under the Nirbhaya fund to ensure round-the-clock security to passengers, especially women.
In NF Railway, CCTV cameras are to be commissioned at 28 stations out of which 16 are being done by NF Railway under ISS (Integrated Security System) Phase I and II while 12 are being done by RailTel under Nirbhaya fund.
Of the 16 stations, eight (Guwahati, Lumding, Dimapur, Dibrugarh, New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Kishanganj, Katihar) were commissioned during the period 2016-18 while the rest are being commissioned now.
“Out of eight stations, five (Kamakhya, Rangiya, Diphu, Silchar, New Bongaigaon) have been commissioned and for the rest (Kokrajhar, Mariani, New Tinsukia) work is in progress and are likely to be commissioned by March 2020 along with the 12 stations being done by RailTel,” the statement said.
The CCTV footage will be monitored by trained RPF personnel and concerned station manager will also be given access to the footage whenever needed.
In Indian Railways CCTV cameras have been installed at about 344 stations so far out of 983 stations. The Humsafar Express and the Tejas service have also been equipped with CCTV cameras. Apart from them, the Shaan-E-Punjab Express is fully monitored under CCTV cameras. Some of the ladies compartments of Mumbai Suburban service are also monitored under CCTV cameras under pilot project.
It may be mentioned here that Nirbhaya fund was announced in 2013 Union Budget with a corpus of Rs. 1,000 crore after the December 16, 2012 incident in Delhi to support initiatives by the government and NGOs working towards ensuring safety of women in India. The fund is administered by Department of Economic Affairs of the Finance Ministry.