Feel worried till daughter returns from IIT campus: Arvind Kejriwal

Asserting that women safety is a priority for his government, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the women's rights bill being brought in the next Assembly session will give more teeth to DCW.

The proposed Charter of Women's Rights Bill, 2015, aims at strengthening Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) by giving it more administrative and judicial powers, and will incorporate recommendation made by Justice J S Verma Committee in the wake of the Nirbhaya rape case. "If a girl is going out then she should feel secure. If she will feel secure then her parents will feel secure. We need to provide a system where women can roam freely around the city, feeling safe and secure," Kejriwal said during the Consultation on the draft bill organised by the Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) at the Delhi Secretariat.

The chief minister also shared his own experience while talking about women safety in the national capital. He said his family gets restless till the time his daughter returns from the IIT campus, since the metro station is at a little distance away from his residence. "If I being Chief Minister is so concerned for the safety of my daughter then I can understand the feeling of common man. We have taken several measures like installing CCTV cameras, which acts as a deterrence.

"Three weeks back, as a pilot project, we installed CCTV cameras in all the classes of three schools. (Deputy Chief Minister) Manish Sisodia went to take feedback and interacted with the students. "They told him that they are very happy as teachers have stopped beating them. Students also shared that cases of theft from school bags have gone down," Kejriwal said. The Chief Minister highlighted that CCTV camera has a deterrent impact in public places too.

"Similarly, in buses we are installing CCTV cameras, which will bring an end to 'road side Romeos' but organised gangs equipped with knife may not fear CCTV cameras but there will be decline in cases by 50-60 per cent," he said.  Hitting out at Delhi Police, Chief Minister alleged that there is "no democratic control" over the force.

"If someone is committing crime then the person should be scared that he or she will be caught. There should be certainty and swiftness of punishment and that only police can ensure but the problem in Delhi is that there is no democratic control over police.

"It comes under the central government which has practically no control over it. Police does not listen to anyone," Kejriwal said. Recently, the Chief Minister held a meeting with DCW chief Swati Maliwal where he identified 21 grave cases in which FIR ought to be registered immediately but police had not done so. DDC has also proposed to give more teeth to DCW by giving additional administrative and judicial power. It also proposed that DCW will work as a single window to work and enforce women related matter.

"We are seeking more suggestions on imparting more power to DCW and ways to enforce it. We will table this bill in next assembly session," Kejriwal said. The draft of the bill for women rights prepared by the DDC is already in public domain and it is based on the recommendations of the Justice JS Verma committee. Eminent lawyers, NGOs and other social activists attended the consultation.

According to DDC officials, the bill proposes to provide a comprehensive framework for women residing in Delhi to effectively enforce their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and various existing statutes - including the right against all forms of violence, the right to appropriate health care, education, privacy and right to equality.