The suggestions were finalised during a committee meeting Friday.
Fast food outlets of Cafe Coffee Day or McDonald’s that are open 24×7 as well as Metro stations could double up as shelter homes at night for women in distress in the national capital, a committee set up by Delhi Lt-Governor Anil Baijal has suggested.
The committee has also suggested that DTC bus drivers should drop women at locations of their convenience on the designated route, if the bus stops are far from their place of residence or work. Panic buttons are also being installed in DTC buses, which will alert the nearest police patrol in cases of distress.
“Most cases of domestic abuse take place at night. Even if the victim manages to free herself from the clutches of the abuser, she would hesitate to approach a police station. Moreover, the streets are not safe as well. Where does she go?” Delhi Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Parida, who heads the committee, told The Indian Express.
The idea, he said, is aimed at removing the need for women to go knocking on the door of male-dominated police stations at night.
The suggestions were finalised during a meeting of the committee on Friday, Parida, who is also the principal secretary (home), said.
The committee, which was set up after a task force on women’s safety submitted its report to Baijal in June, includes representatives from most government departments, including Finance, Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, as well as experts from NGOs, Delhi University and Ambedkar University.
It submits suggestions to the L-G every fortnight.
On the move to rope in DTC bus drivers for the initiative, a government official said, “Say, there are two bus stops: Point A and B. There may be a case that point A is a little too far from where she stays. Dropping her at point B may force her to take a dark stretch. So, she can request the driver to drop her somewhere in between.”
Instructions in this regard are being issued to drivers and conductors through the transport department, the official said. Police are also mapping “dark spots” across the city, and the Power department has been ordered to put up street lights on a war-footing.