Police to reach out to BPOs to help ensure staff security
More than a month after the Dhaula Kuan gangrape jolted the cops out of their slumber, leading to a frenzied crackdown on irresponsible call centres located in the NCR, the Delhi Police will make its first attempt to iron out its differences with them on Thursday.
More than a month after the Dhaula Kuan gangrape jolted the cops out of their slumber, leading to a frenzied crackdown on irresponsible call centres located in the NCR, the Delhi Police will make its first attempt to iron out its differences with them on Thursday.
“We had issued strict security guidelines pertaining to female staff to all BPO establishments operating in the NCR in early December. However, there seem to be certain inadequacies between what we prescribed and the situation on the ground. These will be identified and an attempt to rectify them will be made on Thursday,” Delhi police commissioner BK Gupta told the Hindustan Times.
On December 9, the Delhi Police had prescribed certain security guidelines which were made mandatory for as many as 20 BPO establishments operating in and around the NCR with a view to safeguarding and making them responsible for their female employees under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
“We had asked these BPOs to make available to us all kinds of data pertaining to the identity of persons employed as security guards and cab drivers by them. They were also asked to provide security guards in vehicles dropping female staff to their homes. Also, female staff working the graveyard shift be dropped nowhere except their doorsteps,” said a police officer.
“While some are not complying with the guidelines, most are yet to provide us the identification data of persons employed as security guards and cab drivers in their establishments. They cite the fact that these persons are usually employed through third parties such as security agencies and small cab operators for not having access to it,” the officer said.
The meeting will be chaired by the Delhi Police’s special commissioner of police (crime) and will have representatives from 25 BPOs. Interestingly, the first such routine meet was convened on November 21, three days before the Dhaula Kuan rape was reported.