No school bus to run in Delhi without verification of crew

The government has ordered that no school in Delhi will hire any transport vehicle of any kind without police verification of its owner and the crew.

The special task force, headed by Union Home Secretary R K Singh, which was constituted to look into the safety issues of women in Delhi, also reviewed helpline No 100 and directed that whenever a call is received, the nearest PCR vehicle must reach the spot.

Every Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster bus should have a CCTV/webcam and every member of the crew of a public transport vehicle must have a photo identify card latest by March 1, 2013 duly verified by the Delhi police.

If this direction is not complied with, the Delhi police will not allow these vehicles to ply.

"No school should hire any transport vehicle of any kind without the owner and the rest of the crew being verified by the Delhi police. Such order and the police verification thereof must be completed by February 1," the task force decided.

The meeting reviewed the status of different helplines, PCR vans, DTC/cluster bus service, working hours for discotheques and women help desks in police stations among other issues.

The task force was constituted after huge public outrage after the gang-rape of a girl in Delhi on December 16. The task force, comprising officials from central and Delhi governments, the Delhi police, municipal bodies, would meet every fortnight.    

The task force decided that all stand alone discotheques and all five-star discotheques must close down the music by 12.30 am and completely close down by 1.00 am.

The high-powered body decided to increase the number of lines from 60 to 100 for helpline No 100.

Another helpline 1091 used generally for counselling of women had two lines. It was decided that this line will be converted into distress helpline for women and the number of lines will be increased from 2 to 10 or more. It was also agreed that invariably ladies should be deputed to attend the calls on these lines.

Another helpline 1096 for anti-obscene and anti-stalking helpline was also reviewed. It was agreed that these helplines will under no circumstances ask the person in distress to call any other number or direct the person to any other forum and ensure that the co-ordination with any other forum is done by the helpline.

The task force found that the number of PCR vans was inadequate and decided that they be revised suitably to make the PCR vans more proactive and responsive.

Every police station must have a women's help desk occupied by the lady staff. During night, there should be at least two women staff deployed at the police station. Every women's help desk at a police station shall associate women NGO volunteers with the help of the Delhi Commission for Women. The position of buses and bus stops was also reviewed with the chief secretary and transport commissioner of Delhi. It was agreed that DTC/cluster buses should be GPS-enabled and it should be made functional at a centralised control room by February 1.