Safe city project

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Recently, an IPS officer has come under the scanner for trying to access classified information on the tendering process related to Nirbhaya Safe City Project in Bengaluru

What is a safe city project?

It is a mission mode initiative of MHA under the Nirbhaya Funds scheme for safety of women
The proposal for the Safe City Project, which has been in the thick of a controversy of late, was made by the police in 2013. But it was approved by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs only in 2018.
The Safe City project aims to create a safe, secure and empowering environment for women in public places, to enable them to pursue all opportunities without the threat of gender-based violence and/or harassment.
It also aims to prevent and curb all forms of crimes against women and girl children in public places by providing safer urban infrastructure and efficient access to law enforcement agencies.
It includes installation of CCTV cameras, surveillance systems, panic buttons and GIS mapping of crimes in the city.
The cost of the projects is shared between the Central Government and the concerned States in 60:40 ratio. The Safe City Project in Delhi is fully funded by the Central Government.

Which cities have been selected for the project?

Eight cities have been identified for implementation of this project in the first phase, under the Nirbhaya Fund, at an estimated cost of Rs.2919.55 crore.
These are Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.

What is the Nirbhaya Fund?

Nirbhaya Fund is an Indian rupee 10 billion corpus announced by the Government of India in its 2013 Union Budget.
The Government of India has set up a dedicated fund called Nirbhaya Fund for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women in the country.
Under the Nirbhaya Fund, the proposed projects should have the features like direct impact on safety and security concerns of women, optimum use of existing infrastructure, innovative use of technology, no duplication of existing government schemes/ programmes, provision for real time intervention as far as possible.
Strict privacy and confidentiality of women’s identity and information and defined monitoring mechanism.

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Source: The Indian Express & MHA

Tags: Prelims