Women commandos to man Delhi Metro

In a bid to reduce complaints of harassment by female passengers in Delhi Metro, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has decided to recruit more than 550 women commandos for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

In a bid to reduce complaints of harassment by female passengers in Delhi Metro, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has decided to recruit more than 550 women commandos for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

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“We felt the need for more women commandos and are in the process of hiring 552 women personnel,” CISF Director General Rajiv said at the annual conference of the force.

To deal with the increasing number of complaints of harassment in the ladies coach, the CISF has decided to launch a helpline number too. Officials said that a lot of women travel by Metro and they keep reviewing security arrangements at each station from time-to-time.

“The helpline number will be integrated with the DMRC control room. We will have our men at the control room so that they can react quickly to any call,” Rajiv said. The CISF is in talks with the DMRC to make announcements about such complaints so that the personnel posted can react quickly.

“Instead of sending our men from the control room to respond the call, we can make an announcement on the system. This will help reduce reaction time considerably,” a CISF officer said.

The CISF, which took charge of security at Delhi Metro in April 2007, has currently posted more than 5,000 personnel at 134 Metro stations.

“The daily footfall of passengers at Delhi Metro is around 19 lakh and the security structure keeps on changing according to the passenger movement at stations,” said Rajiv.

The CISF is also planning to introduce a host of pervasive security gadgets.

“We will introduce more pervasive security gadgets such as X-ray scanners and CCTV cameras in view of the increasing footfalls in Delhi Metro,” Rajiv added.