Railways yet to take womens security seriously

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: February 6 is a black day for the women of Kerala. On Monday next, it will be one year after the brutal rape and death of Soumya. A number of suggestions submitted before the Railways still remain on paper.Raising this issue, the Women’s Forum is organising a number of  programmes from February 1 to March 8, the International Day of Women. This week, from February 1 to 6, will be observed as Women’s Security Week. Women’s Forum is conducting an awareness campaign to let people know of women’s helpline numbers and will be  conducting a survey among the women passengers.  A Sampath MP inaugurated the state-level programme at the railway station on Wednesday morning. Sampath inaugurated the programme by handing over the survey form to Ranjitha, an MSW student of Kerala University. Geetha Nazeer, R Parvathy Devi and Meera Ashok spoke at the function.  Sampath, in his inaugural speech, spoke about the pathetic condition of Thampanoor railway station, which is to be upgraded to world class standard soon. He pointed out that there was a lack of clean toilets and delay in appointment of RPF officials.  He also noted that the reservation counter was difficult to be accessed by a differently-abled person. “There are less number of women RPF officials. The emergency helpline numbers are not properly displayed,” he said.  He also demanded proper lighting at the station.