Will the Nirbhaya Project improve Women’s Safety in Chennai?

Nirbhaya Fund Scheme – Objective

Nirbhaya Fund is a project under which a 4000 Crores corpus, was announced by the Government of India. This fund is to support initiatives by the government and NGOs working towards protecting the dignity and ensuring the safety of women in India. Nirbhaya (fearless) was the pseudonym given to the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim to hide her actual identity. Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) is responsible to review and monitor the progress of sanctioned projects under the Nirbhaya Fund.

Project NameNirbhaya – Women Safety Project
Project Start Year2019
Scheme Year2013
Anchoring AgencyChennai Smart City Limited
Total BudgetRs 425 Crores
Nirbhaya - Women Safety in Chennai
Nirbhaya – Women Safety in Chennai

Project Cost and Funding Pattern

The funding pattern for projects is 60:40 for all the states in India. The total cost of the projects envisaged in Rs 425 Crores. “Though the amount utilized by Chennai is below 20 percent at the moment, it will soon emerge as one of the best implementations among Nirbhaya Projects” assured a senior official of Greater Chennai Corporation who wished to remain anonymous.

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Projects Proposed Under Nibhaya Fund – Women Safety in Public Places

Chennai has proposed projects by 4 government line agencies that are large stakeholders in the City. The line agencies are Greater Chennai Corporation, Greater Chennai Police, Transport Department & Social Welfare Department.

The projects proposed by each department are:

Nirbhaya Women Safety Project proposed by Greater Chennai Corporation

The projects proposed by GCC for the Nirbhaya – Women Safety Project is a combination of infrastructure, innovative interventions and hotspot mapping.

  1. Safe Zone Clusters in Hot Crime Zones
  2. Sanitation
  3. GIS Mapping of Crime Zones
  4. Real-Time Monitoring of Street Lighting
  5. Consultancy services
  6. Third-Party Independent Evaluation

Nirbhaya Women Safety Project proposed by the Greater Chennai Police

The projects proposed by Greater Chennai Police for the Nirbhaya – Women Safety Project is a combination of infrastructure, innovative interventions and hotspot mapping.

  1. Surveillance Cameras
  2. Capacity Building: Gender Sensitisation & Training
  3. Counselors & Social Service Workers
  4. Cyber Cell for Women
  5. Women Police Mobile Patrol

Nirbhaya Women Safety Project proposed by the Transport Department

The projects proposed by the Transport Department for the Nirbhaya – Women Safety Project is an innovative intervention.

  1. Security Enablers in Public Transport

Nirbhaya Women Safety Project proposed by the Social Welfare Department

The projects proposed by the Social Welfare Department for the Nirbhaya – Women Safety Project is an innovative intervention.

  1. Emergency Helpline & App Services

Highlights / Scope of the various sub-components

Sanitation Project

Title Details
Department Building Department and Mechanical Department, GCC
Total Project Cost Rs. 27.77 crore
150 Seats She-Toilet (tendered) Rs. 9.57 crore
15 Mobile Toilets Rs. 8.58 crore
Scope of Work 500 e-toilet for women only
In public places and locations identified as vulnerable, including slums and low-income settlements
30 Mobile Toilets for Women Police on bandobast duty and Corporation staff.

Remote Monitoring of Street Light

Title Details
Department Electrical Department, GCC
Project Cost Rs. 14.07 crore (from Nirbhaya Fund)
Scope of Work Remote monitoring of 7077 numbers of feeder pillar boxes catering to 2,85,828 LED street lights
Of the total cost of Rs. 41.50 crore, Rs. 14.07 crore is funded from Nirbhaya Fund
Integrated with Command and Central Centre

GIS Mapping of Crime Zone

Title Details
Department GIS Cell, GCC
Total Project Cost Rs. 7.80 crore
Scope of Work GIS-based heat mapping of areas of crimes against women
Fully integrated notification system via emails and SMS

Surveillance Cameras

Title Details
Department Greater Chennai Police
Total Project Cost Rs. 113.97 crore
Scope of Work 3000 CCTV cameras spread across 1000 locations and 4500 standalone cameras spread across 1500 locations.
Facial recognition, edge analytics; interface with Command & Control Centre at GCP

Safe Zone Clusters in Hot Crime Zones

Title Details
Department Special Projects, GCC
Total Project Cost Rs. 131.72 crore
Scope of Work Multiutility Smart Poles – Emergency Panic Box, Public Address System, Zero-dark Luminance centrally connected to Command Control Centre with IOT based intelligence
1200 cameras across 617 places of large public gathering and 7500 standalone cameras across 2000 locations

Capacity Building

Title Details
Department Greater Chennai Police
Total Project Cost Rs. 16.80 crore
Scope of Work Capacity building of women police personnel in martial arts
Gender Sensitisation campaigns in schools & colleges Roadshows

Counselors & Social Service Workers

Title Details
Department Greater Chennai Police
Total Project Cost Rs. 0.55 crore
Scope of Work Centralized counseling – a Case Monitoring solution
Counselors to be placed in all 35 AWPS.

Cyber Cell for Women

Title Details
Department Greater Chennai Police
Total Project Cost Rs. 6.90 crore
Scope of Work Cyber Crime cell for investigating cyber crimes against women & other cybercrimes in GCP HQ.
A core team of police personnel to be formed who shall be trained by System Integrators on Cyber Crime security certifications.

Women Police Mobile Patrol

Title Details
Department Greater Chennai Police
Total Project Cost Rs. 8.28 crore
Scope of Work Procure 45 women police mobile patrol vehicles to assist in monitoring and intervention in areas prone to crimes against women.

Security Enablers in Public Transport

Title Details
Department Transport Department & Metropolitan Transport Corporation
Total Project Cost Rs. 72.71 crore
Scope of Work Tracking and tracing of buses
ECBs and cameras for quick intervention

Emergency Helpline

Title Details
Department Social Welfare Department
Total Project Cost Rs. 12.96 crore
Scope of Work Augmenting 181 helpline services to provide services for women facing abuse
24×7 Emergency/ panic app to track women in distress; interface with Command & Control Centre
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