'After The Brutal Rape Case, Working Women Confidence Shaken'
New Delhi: The horrendous rape case in Delhi has not only shaken the confidence of working women in the National Capital Region (NCR) but also in other major cities, a survey has said.
Most of the respondents felt that it is the time the quality of governance should be improved and the obsession of the police "bandobast" with the VVIPs should be changed, Assocham said in a survey.
"Majority of respondents, who are working in companies located in Gurgaon, Noida, Delhi, Sonepat and Faridabad, said they have begun insisting on leaving offices on dot, immediately after duty hours following the atmosphere of insecurity," it said.
After the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus about a week back, people in many parts of the country have been demanding quick justice for her and also to make stringent laws against rape cases.
"About 88 percent of women respondents said the anxiety is more among the guardians of those women who travel by chartered buses," the survey said.
These respondents said that now they get more calls while at work from home -- parents or husbands -- after the incident, it added.
The chamber said that it surveyed about 2,500 women and men in various cities.
The survey said those who use the Delhi Metro feel relatively secure as long as they are within the premises of the metro stations.
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However, they said the moment they de-board the train, their anxiety levels increase as the basic infrastructure from the stations to the colonies is found lacking.
The survey said majority of respondents feel that the deployment of more police personnel would be there for few days and after that everything will be back to usual, the survey said.
"It is not difficult to wire the major and vulnerable parts of the region with CCTVs, which should be properly monitored and action taken," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.
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The fear of law must be instilled among those who are prone to commit heinous crime, he added.
The chamber said that accountability must be fixed not among the junior functionaries but also among the higher-ups. Those found guilty of incompetence and complacency should be simply sacked. "The fear of losing job would work."
Besides, the survey said that if the confidence of workforce is shaken, the NCR would lose its eminent position among even investors.
The respondents also wanted companies’ human resource departments to devise new ways of ensuring increased staff security, especially among those who work on night duties, it said.