Doon police much-hyped ‘Project Awaaj’ loses purpose

The much-hyped ‘Project Awaaj’ launched by Dehradun police in January to ensure safety for the women passengers travelling in buses by keeping whistles with every seat meant for them when harassment on the women passengers in buses was on the spiral seems to have lost steam. Sixty buses were fitted with such whistles to be blown by way of raising alarm when any harassment happens to them while according to the plan, 270 more buses were to be fitted with the same. Now, just over three months having passed since the initiative was launched one can hardly find a bus plying in the city which has such whistles ready with the seats for the harassed women to raise alarm with. The refrain that runs is that the enthusiasm the police brass shows while launching a project with fanfare is short-lived. Things plunge into oblivion of the collective police self a few days after a project starts with others following one another in quick succession. What happens is that there is hardly anyone left in the force who take the pains to follow whether the project is being executed or not.   

Sharing her experience, Rakshi, a local traveler, said that it is sad such initiatives launched with verve lose steam soon after it is launched. “It gave us at least a psychological security that we are being cared for. But now the whistles are vanishing from the buses where they were placed and those buses which are to be fitted with the same are bereft of them,” she said.

She further said that as per her experiences, the women seldom are inclined to lodge   complaints when they are harassed in buses. “Recently I have come across an incident when a girl was teased by some of boys in a Ballupur-bound bus. When she threatened to call  police up  the boys  retreated. However, I found no whistle fitted with the seats meant for the women passengers. The move was good, but it petered out in no time thanks to the apathy of police to carry things on,” she lamented.                                

A college student Prachi Kaishiv said that she has seen such whistles kept with the seats meant for them in a few of the local buses. “But I doubt whether they would work when the women passengers need to blow them to raise alarm over harassment.

Things are not being taken care of as they should be. It is the responsibility of the police to see that the initiative helps those for whom it is meant. Besides, if the buses are less crowded than what they are now things might be better for us,” she said.    

A driver of a private bus Rajkumar said that there were whistles in the bus he was driving a few months ago. “But the whistles are no longer there. I  assume that the passengers themselves have  taken them away with them,” he said.                          

Quizzed over the sorry state of things, senior superintendent of police Dehradun  Nivedita Kukreti said that the records of eve- teasing complaints registered by the women passengers of buses are low.  “We would, however, conduct a survey to see how things are standing now regarding the Project Aawaz.

We would see that all the local buses are fitted with such warning whistles. Besides, there is a need for awareness among the people. This cannot be a one-way process. The passengers  should take care of such things themselves,” she added.