Twenty-five days after the gangrape and subsequent death of a 23-year-old paramedic student, the Delhi government has realised that the public transport system should be strengthened.
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday said that the government is working on a recommendation of making auto-rickshaw kiosks on the pretext of taxi kiosks so that the commuters should get auto-rickshaws round the clock.
“The transport department is looking into the recommendations. Kiosks for auto-rickshaws are also being considered,” she said.
On the fateful night, the gangrape victim and her male friend boarded the bus only after many auto-rickshaws denied to take them to their destination.
According to the recommendation, the government would provide space to construct small structures for auto-rickshaws across the city with the same facilities like taxi stands.
Meanwhile, the Delhi transport minister Ramakant Goswami has said that no vehicles from the neighbouring states will be allowed to enter the Delhi’s border with black films or curtains on the windshields.
“Apart from the black films and curtains, the transport department will also take strict action against the drivers of public transport vehicles plying without proper badge. The Delhi police will do verification of the drivers,” he said.
He further said that the government has ordered to set global positioning system (GPS) in every auto-rickshaw and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus.
“We have given a three days ultimatum to those auto-rickshaws who are not having GPS system. GPS systems are already mounted in the low floor buses which were procured recently. The work of fixing GPS in rest of the buses is on progress,” he said.