Government committed to curb crime against women effectively, task force to establish soon

Bhopal: A state-level task force headed by the Chief Minister will be constituted to ensure effective curb on crimes against girls and women. Apart from immediate measures to curb such crimes, a long-term action plan will also be chalked out and implemented in the state. Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has directed that every incident of crime against women should be taken very seriously.
At a high-level meeting here today, Shri Chouhan held elaborate discussions about effective curb on crimes against women and immediate as well as long-term measures in this regard. Home Minister Shri Umashankar Gupta and Chief Secretary Shri R. Parasuram also attended the meeting.
Shri Chouhan said that such incidents in the state and entire country are distressing though criminals are being caught due to promptness on the part of police-administration and sentences are also being pronounced. Shri Chouhan said that effective institutional arrangements should be ensured in cities and villages. On the other hand, active participation of social organisations and various institutions should also be increased to enlist community involvement in implementing these measures in right earnest. Along with state-level plan, district-level action plans should also be chalked out. Nation-wide debate should be initiated from Madhya Pradesh on changing people’s mindset of discrimination between sons and daughters and women and men. Cooperation of media should be sought regarding advertisements which are spreading perversions and polluting atmosphere. Legal measures with modern techniques should be ensured for nabbing criminals. He said that efforts should be made to ensure that accused do not go scot-free.
During discussions on immediate as well as long-term measures, the Chief Minister directed that arrangement of watchmen should be ensured at village level first of all. Posts of watchman should be filled up wherever vacant. Along with this, Gram Raksha Samitis, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, panchas and sarpanchas should also be alerted to curb such incidents. Participation of Nagar Suraksha Samitis and various social organisations should be increased in towns. It was decided at the meeting that watchmen will be made multi-purpose like earlier. Immediate action will be taken on information provided by them. It was also decided that various institutions and industries in the state will have to maintain complete dossier of persons employed with them. Proper information about habitual offenders released from jail and anti-social elements in villages and cities will be maintained in police stations.
Under long-term measures, joint district-level teams of police-administration and social organisations will be constituted after formation of state-level task force. The Chief Minister will hold discussions on the issue with media barons. Workshops of administrative officers, NGOs and public representatives will be held.
It was informed at the meeting that a state-level workshop on counselling skill training is being organised at Bhopal from May 15 by Women & Child Development Department. Similarly, training programmes have also been started at district and division levels with cooperation of Tata Institute of Social Sciences for increasing sensitiveness towards women and curbing crimes against them. Gallantry Societies are being constituted in selected villages of 6 districts under Tejaswini. Representatives of judicial, administrative and police institutions, Women & Child Development Department and social organisation will participate in the workshops and training programmes.
It was suggested at the meeting that a women and youth policy should be chalked out in the state. Foeticide Prevention Act and Prevention of Domestic Violence Act should be implemented effectively. For this, workshop of officers, judges, senior officers of police and administration and public representatives should be held.
It was informed that one of the two accused of raping a minor in Seoni has been nabbed. Accused in cases in Chhindwara and Mhow have also been arrested. Death sentence has been awarded to 7 convicts during last 3 months. The police is registering each crime and has accelerated pace of investigation. Additional Chief Secretary Home Shri Indraneel Shankar Dani, Additional Chief Secretary Panchayats & Rural Development Smt. Aruna Sharma, DGP Shri Nandan Dube, Additional DGP (Intelligence) Shri Vivek Jauhari, Chief Minister’s OSD Shri Sudhir Saxena, Principal Secretary Women & Child Development Shri B.R. Naidu, Principal Secretary to CM Shri Manoj Shrivastava, Principal Secretary Law Shri K.D. Khan, Commissioner Women’s Empowerment Smt. Kalpana Shrivastava and Commissioner Child Development Shri Manohar Agnani were also present on the occasion.