The
Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways made it mandatory for public
transport vehicles running in major cities to install GPS. The announcement was
made on 9 February 2014.
As per the directions of Union Ministry, All the
owners of public transport are required to install Global Positioning System
(GPS) by 20 February 2014. The project is a part of Nirbhaya Fund.
The project involves
setting up of closed circuit
television (CCTV) and using global positioning system (GPS) to ensure safety
and security of women and girls in distress.
In
the first phase, the vehicles running in cities which had a population of
more than 10 Lakh should install GPS facility. The road ministry had
earlier asked passenger vehicle owners to install these devices by September
30, 2013.
About Nirbhaya Fund
The
project was announced by Government of India in 2013 Union Budget.The Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved a 1405-crore rupees project
in January 2013. The project aims to track and monitor public transport and
provide alarm buttons for alerting authorities.
It
will be implemented within two years after allocation of funds to set up a
National Level Vehicle Security and Tracking System and City Command and
Control Centre with installation of GPS, CCTV in public road transport.