New Delhi: The security of female passengers in trains might become the top priority of the Rail Budget this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been focusing on women empowerment since he came to power in May.
CCTV cameras will be installed in trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duranto and other mail/express trains. Deployment of one female RPF constable per coach is also under consideration in the budget.
The female constable will continuously stay in contact with the RPF-GRP squad of the train.
Minister for Railways, Suresh Prabhu has emphasized on the need of passenger security, especially female passengers, since he took the office in November. A mobile app for female passengers is also underway in upcoming Rail Budget. The app will work offline and will have a distress button. Pressing the distress button will alert the RPF through a SMS, with the information of train and coach.
Other than the helpline number of RPF, the mobile numbers of train superintendent, conductor and TTE will also be printed on the reservation chart. Passengers will be able to contact the officials anytime.
According to a senior official with ministry of railways, the number of female constables is being increased in the women battalion of RPF. The recruitment of new 4000 female constables is almost complete.
Suresh Prabhu has also requested finance minister Arun Jaitley to sanction the recruitment of one thousand more female constables. There is a plan to deploy extra 17,000 RPF personnel for the security in trains.
