Passenger Security and Cab Services

With the recent incident that unfolded a whole case of irregularities in the way Cab services in India operate, it has become critical for important for the Government to set down basic guidelines for the Cab Operations and bring it under organized sector.

Currently, there is no defined requirement for anyone to own a cab service.  There is a strong requirement to drive following improvements - 

1. Ensure that every cab has a GPS unit fixed into it to help track where the cab is
2. Ensure that every cab has a CCTV camera installed reporting the incidents inside the cab live to the Police Control Room or any other central location for that city.  These CCTV footage need to be securely stored
3. Every Cab should have a distress call button that should immediately raise alarms with the Cab Service provider, Police Control room as well as the nearest surveillance unit 
4. Ensure that every cab undergoes re-certification for the above units every 3 months
5. Ensure that if any cab is not reporting onto the GPS map as well as camera console and distress call button is not working, the cab is declared unfit for operations. 

These are just a few pointers that would help thwart the issues as we have witnessed in case of Uber.  There may be many more that can be explored to help ensure safety of the travelers and government as well as the cab operators have to not just evaluate, but enforce these steps.

Additionally, it needs to be noted that the cab services need to be more diligent with following steps: 

1. Conduct Independent Background Verification of the Cab Drivers they employ
2. Conduct immediate review of all the complain received with a turn around time of 16 working hours.
3. Immediate action needs to be taken to revoke duty of the driver against whom a complain has been received. This revocation may be turned over in case Driver is identified Not Guilty
4. Report all incidents of serious nature to the nearest Police Station to ensure that the Driver if guilty is reported to Law and appropriate action may be taken against erring driver

If the above steps are taken and if the cab companies also conduct due diligence for the women safety measures, I would presume that there would be a sharp decline in the overall issue from cab services perspective and where cabs could be probable point of abuse.  It would only the time that would tell how much success would these measures see for this also would need to see honest and fair job delivery by the reviewers without resorting to corruption practices...

Rohtak 'Braveheart' Sisters and Social Media

With the recent news on the reaction of two Rohtak sisters (aged 22 & 19), against a guy reportedly trying to molest them or engaging in eve-teasing, the social media went abuzz with praises for them.  The video showed them beating the guy in a bus with all they could gather - belts, slaps etc etc.  They were praised by everyone with rewards announced for them.  But hold it there, the same social media went abuzz criticizing them when the second video surfaced with them beating another guy in showering kicks and punches at him.

So why this sudden change in the stance by the Social Media?  Simply because Social Media was not the witness of the case, rather they were only the second hand recipients of the video footage that were shot in each case.  Funny questions that were raised included - why didn't bystanders capture the eve teasing?  Well, well, well doesn't the Social Media understand that the folks who record those videos are the bystanders who prefer to enjoy the "FUN" rather than broker the peace.  These bystanders do not know the background of the fight that they record, they record because they find it funny and nothing else.

I have a quick question to all the Netizens and the Social Media folks - If you were passing by and see couple of girls beating up a guy - would you be interested in knowing the reasin or would you sand their to enjoy the show...and may be record that scene to share with your followers and friends?  I would guess you would all opt for no.2 that is what happened in #rohtaksisters case and that is what we got to see in the two videos is and that is what the half truth is. 

Why do we the Social Media as well as Netizens get influenced by presumptions and live in a prejudice?  We don't know the complete truth and the complete case, still we ensure that we pass a judgement.....why that so? 

I think we all need to first know the truth from those who know it - the #rohtaksisters, the guys who got beaten up and the bystanders who were there watching the show live....and those who shot those videos.  I am sure there would have been something that would have lead some verbal bashing before the two girls chose to hit the guys....it would be better to know the pre-cursor to know the complete story  before jumping the guns and jumping to conclusions