Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently announced that 57 more Pink Hoysalas will be introduced soon, in addition to the existing 51 vehicles launched on April 10 this year, but the police department does not seem enthused by the idea.
Mr Siddaramaiah said that all police stations in the city will have a Pink Hoysala each to further ensure safety and security of women and children. The city has 108 police stations and as of now, 51 Pink Hoysalas cover the entire city.
But the police department faces an acute shortage of women staff and policewomen have been refusing to go on night patrols in Pink Hoysalas. The addition of more vehicles would require more staff. “With no women staff in the vehicle round the clock, pink remains only a colour. Most of the crimes against women happen in late evening or night. Having vehicles exclusive meant for women safety, and not having women staff in them doesn't serve the purpose,” a senior police officer said.
DCP (Command Centre) Nagendra Kumar admitted that women staff are not deployed in night rounds in Pink Hoysala as they have not received any complaints concerning women during nights. He added that policewomen will be deployed if they start receiving complaints. With no serious complaints from women so far on the Suraksha App, which helps women in distress, the police think more vehicles would mean more burden as the vehicles cannot be kept idle. “There is no need for more Pink Hoysalas now. We already have 272 Hoysalas, including the pink ones, patrolling the streets. Additional vehicles will need more staff which we need to manage from the existing count which is already low,” another senior police officer said. Of 600 women police staff, 153 women have been deployed in Pink Hoysalas. The number would double if more vehicles are added. However, the total staff would remain the same which will affect work at stations, he pointed out. “After revamping Dial 100 service and putting the existing vehicles to best use, we achieved our 15 sec-15 min goal,” he says.
