The Hindu : Manish's death figures in NCW meeting with railway officials

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

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Manish's death figures in NCW meeting with railway officials

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28. The tragic death of the Prime Minister's grand-nephew, Manish Mishra, figured at an interactive meeting on the safety and protection of railway passengers between the National Commission for Women (NCW), members of the Railway Board and the Inspector-General of the Railway Protection Force held here today.

The meeting had been fixed earlier to discuss the incidents of violence and sexual harassment against women, and it just happened that the meeting took place a couple of days after the Manish Mishra incident, the NCW chairperson, Poornima Advani, told The Hindu.

While expressing concern over violence against women on trains and the failure on the railway authorities to address the increasing rate of crimes, Ms. Advani said that innumerable incidents of violence take place daily and many of which go unreported. "We insisted that all cases should be handled with due importance.''

The meeting had been prompted following cases of violence against women in Bihar and Assam. "These incidents happen everyday and women, particularly from the rural areas, do not even complain,'' Ms. Advani said, adding that the Railway Protection Act laid stress only on the safety of railway property and not on human life.

There is also difficulty in filing of the first information report following an incident that leads to procedural delay in redress, the Commission said.

The members pointed out that the presence of beggars, eunuchs and vendors on the platforms and inside the trains inconvenienced the passengers. The railway personnel are often in an inebriated state while on duty and instances of misbehaviour by the personnel was a common feature, they said.

Recommending gender sensitisation of the railway staff and revamping of the recruitment policy to increase the number of women in the force, the NCW said there was a need to install alarm bells in the ladies' compartment and prominent display of helpline numbers and important telephone number in the compartments.

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