The issue of women’s safety brought together Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung and Police Commissioner Alok Verma here on Wednesday.
It is expected to be a recurring exercise over combined efforts to make the Capital safer for women.
According to a source close to Mr. Kejriwal, who made a mention of the meeting during his address on the floor of the Delhi Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, plans are now afoot to prepare a detailed plan putting in place a significant CCTV surveillance infrastructure and eliminate dark spots in the Capital.
The meeting, according to the source, was initially scheduled to take place only between the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant-Governor.
But, Mr. Kejriwal suggested that the Police Commissioner, too, be made part of its proceedings.
In fact, it was last week that Mr. Verma had asked his Deputy Commissioners in charge of districts to hold meetings with all the MLAs in their respective constituencies.
On Thursday, Mr. Verma confirmed to The Hindu that the meeting with the Chief Minister had taken place but did not disclose what transpired between the two sides.
He also said that the meeting was not a one-on-one and others were present there as well.
The police chief also declined to comment on the road ahead as far as the relationship between his force and the State government which have been strained in the recent past.
“The Delhi Police has been able to put in place a significant surveillance grip through the participation of the general public and the government is in the process of creating a similar infrastructure by the end of this financial year.
“The plan is now to seek effective implementation of an efficient grid with minimal duplication of effort,” said an official.
In the run-up to its budget, the Public Works Department (PWD) had requested an allocation of Rs. 600 crore for the installation of CCTVs across Delhi.
An additional amount of Rs. 150 crore was requested for the provision of street lights on streets and structures falling under its jurisdiction.
According to a senior Delhi Police official, the force currently has access to feeds from a network of close to 1,52,815 CCTV cameras under an operation called Nigheban .
The force currently has access to feeds from a network of close to 1,52,815 CCTV cameras
