2 years on, no CCTV in buses for want of funds

New Delhi: Two years after the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) made a case for installing closed circuit cameras in all its buses, the Delhi government is still to allocate the funds. The project, which was taken as a step towards providing a safer commute for women, consists of installing CCTV cameras in 3,575 buses. DTC has already installed them in 200 buses as part of a pilot project.
Ironically, the state government has been tom-tomming the project as an achievement in many public advertisements. Sources said the Delhi government had even given an in-principle approval to the project in November last year.
However, the funds are still nowhere in sight, almost a year after the approval came through. “The project was to cost Rs 103 crore at the time the proposal had been submitted, which was in November 2014,” a senior government official said. Officials now say that the project could cost more.
The pilot project of CCTVs in 200 buses was undertaken at a cost of Rs 3.91 crore in 2014. Sources added that DTC had proposed that the funds be released from the Nirbhaya fund, but no call on the funding has been taken as yet.DTC, which is in the midst of installing electronic ticketing machines and wi-fi in its fleet of 4,705 buses, says the CCTV project is part of the initiatives suggested after the Nirbhaya incident.
However, with funding being unavailable, the project has languished. It has also led to a double whammy for the DTC: the Centre has withheld the last installment of central assistance of Rs 24.21 crore for 1,500 low floor buses, revealed a CAG audit earlier last month. The central funds were part of the urban bus specifications safety guidelines issued by the ministry of urban development, and is mandatory for procurement of buses under the erstwhile Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. DTC had purchased 1,500 low floor buses between September 2009 and September 2010 under this scheme, added the CAG audit.
An internal report generated on the buses covered under the pilot project, where 200 buses were fitted with CCTVs, has been encouraging, admit government officials. According to the report, both staff behaviour as well as the general security in these buses have gone up significantly since CCTV was installed. Said the senior government official, “Two depots were part of the experiment, Sarojini Nagar and Rajghat. Both have reported an improvement in the efficiency of the staff, as well as a drop in the number of crimes like pick-pocketing etc.”