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Bhubaneswar: The Central government is gearing up to install emergency button and Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) in all the buses plying in the country to ensure safety of passengers especially women passengers who feel exposed to physical aggression, sexual harassment or eve-teasing.
A letter was issued by the Union Transport Ministry on January 12, 2020 to the Transport Secretaries and Commissioners of all States and UTs to implement vehicle tracking platform under Nirbhaya Framework.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had on November 28, 2016 issued a notification making it mandatory to fit emergency buttons and vehicle location tracking devices in all public service vehicles. Later the order was re-examined and decided to exempt public service vehicles registered up to December 31, 2018 under its ambit and include the vehicles registered only after January 1, 2019.
Since very little progress could be achieved to set up the monitoring centres, it was felt necessary to support the States under Nirbhaya Framework to set up the same at earliest and ensure safe commute to the women and children in public passenger transport vehicles, the letter mentioned.
The funding ratio for the project has also been outlined in the letter. It said 60 per cent of the total cost will be borne by the Centre while 40 per cent will be provided by the ruling governments in States which do not have difficult terrains.
In lieu with the directive, Odisha has begun the process to adopt the advisory as well. Premananda Behera, Additional Secretary of the Commerce and Transport Department Odisha in a letter on February 3, 2020 requested the Transport Commissioner to submit a detailed proposal in the prescribed format as per the guidelines of the Union government by February 15, 2020.
State transport minister, Padmanabha Behera said, “Because the provision of emergency button and VLTD will serve the interests of women and children, we will definitely implement this in our State.”
The decision has received applauds from all walks of life.
