E-Paper
Railways to install video surveillance across 983 stations under Nirbhaya Fund
New Delhi
New Delhi
The Indian Railways has given approval for the installation of Internet Protocol surveillance system across 983 stations under the Nirbhaya Fund, an official statement from the ministry said.
Railway ministry Wednesday said a budget of Rs 250 crore was allotted to Indian Railways from Nirbhaya fund for installation of video surveillance.
The fund was announced by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2013 in the aftermath of the gruesome gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student in New Delhi on December 16, 2012.
It was set up with an initial corpus of Rs 1,000 crore in 2013-14. Additionally, Rs 1,000 crore was also provided in 2014-15 and Rs 550 crore each in 2016-17 and 2017-18. The corpus transferred to the public account for the fund up to 2017-18 stood at Rs 3100 crore.
“In order to enhance security at Railway stations which are major hubs of transportation, Indian Railways is in the process of installing Internet Protocol (IP) based Video Surveillance System (VSS) at stations, that is, waiting halls, reservation counters, parking areas, main entrance/exit, platforms, foot over bridges, booking offices etc,” the ministry said.
RailTel, a PSU under the ministry of railways, has been entrusted with the work of providing IP based VSS with video analytics and facial recognition system. “To have a better coverage and clearer image, four types of Full HD Cameras – Dome type (for indoor areas), Bullet type (for platforms), Pan Tilt Zoom type (for parking areas) and Ultra HD- 4k cameras (for crucial locations) are being provided. CCTV camera live feeds are displayed on multiple screens at the Railway Protection Force (RPF) control room for monitoring,” the ministry said.
The recording of the video feeds from CCTV cameras will be stored for 30 days for playback, post event analysis and for investigation purposes. Important videos can be stored for longer duration.
Talking about the project Puneet Chawla, Chairman and Managing Director, RailTel said that in the first phase, VSS is being installed at 200 stations Pan India and as on date work has been completed at 81 stations across India. The Video Surveillance System will be extended to other stations and coaches soon. The work is being done utilizing the Nirbhaya fund for ensuring better safety for women.
Hindustan Times on November 11, 2019 had reported the national transporter’s plans of a complete overhaul of security at railway stations through the use of facial recognition technology backed by artificial intelligence to identify and nab criminals, a proposal which, one Internet freedom activist warned, could be a violation of individual privacy.
