Railways plan helpline to secure women commuters

New Delhi: With the aim of helping passengers, particularly women, in case of distress in trains, railways will set up a security helpline as part of the Nirbahaya Fund. A pilot scheme for setting up an SOS alert system, the round-the-clock security helpline in trains in Western and Central zones is being initiated, said a senior railway ministry official.[caption id=“attachment_1290047” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Protesting crime against women. PTI[/caption] Rolling out the scheme on an all-India basis would cost about Rs 25.17 crore and it will be utilised from the Nirbhaya Fund, he said. Finance Minister P Chidambaram had announced in the 2013-14 Budget that the government will set up a fund called the Nirbhaya Fund and contribute Rs 1,000 crore to it. The works had been awarded in October to the Centre for Railway Information (CRIS) with a completion period of 13 months for conducting pilot projects at Central Railway and Western Railway, he said. PTI