AP: Jagan Accuses CM of Undermining Disha, Women’s Safety

Vijayawada: Former CM and YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of failing to protect women in Andhra Pradesh by deliberately undermining YSRC regime’s key safety programmes like the Disha initiative.

Taking to social media platform X, Jagan cited the Badvel incident in which a college girl had been set on fire and killed. While expressing condolences to the bereaved family, he called the girl’s demise a failure of both the NDA alliance government and the police.

The YSRC chief underlined that Chandrababu Naidu had deliberately undermined his government’s Disha initiative, a programme designed to ensure the safety of women and girls. He pointed out that during YSRC government's tenure, the Disha app had provided protection to 31,607 women and girls, while it had been downloaded by 1.56 crore people.

The former CM charged that Naidu had weakened this crucial safety system, thereby endangering the well-being and security of women. He maintained that his government had, apart from strengthening Disha, established 13 POCSO courts, 12 women’s courts, forensic labs, and allotted 900 bikes and 163 Bolero vehicles to police to enhance patrolling under the Disha programme.

Additionally, 18 Disha police stations had been set up. He asserted that the YSRC government gave top priority to Disha programme during law and order reviews, ensuring that police remained vigilant at all times with regard to the safety of women and girls.