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Bengal govt announces new safety programme for women working at night
Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief advisor of West Bengal chef minister, said the state government’s flagship programme for women safety has been named ‘Rattirer Shaathi – Helpers of the night’
The West Bengal government on Saturday announced a programme to provide safety for women working in night shifts at various offices including medical colleges and hospitals across the state.
Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief advisor of West Bengal chef minister, told media persons at the state secretariat that the flagship programme for women safety of the state government has been named ‘Rattirer Shaathi – Helpers of the night’.
The programme includes separate designated restrooms with toilets for women at workplaces; women volunteers named ‘Rattirer Shaathi’ would be deployed and safe zones to be identified with CCTv surveillance.
“A special mobile app with alarm devices would be developed which shall be compulsorily downloaded by all working women. It would be connected with the local police station and police control room,” said a statement issued by the government.
This comes days after a 31-year-old trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered inside a government hospital in Kolkata. The incident triggered nation-wide uproar and the state government, police and hospital authorities have come under heavy fire.
The safety measures also include security checks and breathalyser tests would be carried out at all hospitals and medical colleges. It also said that organisations would be encouraged to devise schedules so that women may work in pairs or teams and know each other’s movements at night.
The protocol also suggests a series of other steps such as night police patrolling in hospitals, medical colleges and women hostels, identity cards to be displayed by all faculty and security guards, wherever possible night duty for women may be avoided, police to post security guards in all hospitals and medical colleges among others.
“It is a multi-departmental flagship programme to ensure welfare of working women in these institutions get a fulcrum and specific focus. The issues were discussed in a meeting today. The orders would be issued at the earliest,” he added.
