JOIN USPink boxes to deal with 'general' complaints
Following the recent campaign against sexual violence on women and children, several measures were proposed by State Women’s Commission Chairperson Manjula Manasa.
One among them was setting up complaint boxes at key locations and the other to install CCTV cameras at schools. While the first measure has been implemented, with Manjula inaugurating one such complaint box at Maharani’s College, the other is yet to take off.
Complaint box
The pink complaint cum suggestion box, an initiative of the Police department, in the city, will be installed at 50 locations. While there is apprehension that the complaint boxes — meant to prevent incidents of sexual violence against women — could be used to lodge fake complaints, Police officials allay such fears.
Police Commissioner M A Saleem said, such boxes would help women and girls, who generally do not come forward to complain, even if they are harassed.
In the presence of such complaint boxes, which will be opened every week by the police stations concerned, women can easily lodge their complaints, he added.
“If students of Maharani’s College complain about eve-teasing during the evening, police personnel from the jurisdictional station will be dispatched to check it. Hence, guilty persons can be prosecuted,” he said.
According to ACP B T Kavitha, complaints around schools, colleges and offices will be mostly about eve-teasing. “Women also complain about being stalked. The box would assist in controlling such incidents,” she said.
CCTV proposal
Manjula had directed the officials of the department of Public Instruction to forward a circular to all schools to install CCTVs, but, there is no clue on how it would be implemented in government schools. While a few private schools already have the system in place, some have come forward to implement it.
T R Basappa, Deputy Director of the department, said, he has already dispatched letters to both aided and un-aided schools to install CCTV cameras.
There are 3,200 schools in the district, a majority of which are government schools, but, the department has not received any funds or instructions on installing the cameras in government schools, he said.