“Politics” is preventing progress on making the Capital safer for women, said Lalitha Kumaramanglam, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women, on Tuesday.
Referring to the ongoing tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government, she said that the stakeholders are unable to work together in order to improve women’s safety in the city.
She was speaking at a national conference organised by the Centre for Social Research here on the topic ‘Creating Safe Cities’. Speakers, including police officers, lawyers and activists, gave their recommendations for making urban areas safer.
When it was her turn to speak, Ms. Kumaramanglam told the gathering that the government alone cannot address the problem of rising crimes against women.
Involvement of communities
“What needs to be done is to get communities involved. If you bring it down to the fact that look your daughter is as much at risk as say your neighbour’s daughter, then they start listening. We are trying to do something like this but it is very very difficult to do. In Delhi its very difficult to do because of the politics,” she said.
Like many other areas, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre have been at odds over issues that relate to women’s safety.
For instance, the appointment of the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women was a sticking point; the use of the Nirbhaya Fund in buses is another one. The two governments have also been at loggerheads over powers of the State and the Centre’s control over the Delhi Police.
‘Bickering’
“In all the tu-tu main-main [back and forth] that goes on, it is ultimately the women who suffer. Who has jurisdiction, who doesn’t...all of this becomes irrelevant beyond a point. We are not able to sit together without pointing fingers at each other. That is what is the problem in Delhi quite honestly,” said Ms. Kumaramanglam.
She said women in Delhi would be much safer if the two governments were working together.
Ms. Kumaramanglam’s speech came after DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal addressed the conference. In her speech, Ms. Maliwal highlighted the problems being faced by the commission, including the fact that some employees had not been paid for almost four months.
“There is a complete lack of coordination between the Delhi government and the Centre. A special task force was created at the Centre after the Nirbhaya case, but it has been scrapped,” she said.
Holistic change
While the two chairpersons, one appointed by the BJP and the other by the Aam Aadmi Party, put the blame on the lack of coordination, the activists gathered at the conference highlighted the need for holistic change.
“There is concern about the growing violence against women in public spaces,” said Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Centre for Social Research.
Based on the discussion at the conference, an action plan or set of suggestions will be compiled, she said.
