Govt constitutes task force to look into women's safety issues

A special task force, headed by the Union Home Secretary, has been set up to look into the safety issues of women in the national capital on a fortnightly basis.

The 13-member task force will review the functioning of the Delhi Police on a regular basis. It will also continuously review action taken by the police and the Delhi government regarding safety issues of women, a Home Ministry statement said today.

The task force will also take into consideration the suggestions made by the Members of Parliament during the debates on the matter.

The government's decision to set up the task force comes in the backdrop of strong public protests over the brutal gangrape and assault of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus here on December 16. She died in a Singapore hospital on Saturday.

The members of the task force will be Delhi's Chief Secretary, Commissioner of Police, Delhi, Delhi Police's Special Commissioner (Traffic), Special Commissioner (Law & Order) and Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women.

The other members will be Chairperson, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Transport Commissioner, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), Commissioners of East Delhi Municipal Corporation, North Delhi Municipal Corporation and South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Excise Commissioner, GNCTD and Joint Secretary (UT) in the Home Ministry.

The task force may co-opt any such member/task force that it may deem fit, the statement said.