‘Nirbhaya Nisha’ to ensure safe night travel for women in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi: Aiming to ensure the safety of women travelling at night, the Kerala Police will launch the ‘Nirbhaya Nisha’ initiative across the state on Sunday while observing International Women’s Day.

The initiative will guarantee the safety of women travelling at night for work, studies, medical treatment and other purposes by providing a quick police response to any problems faced by them between 9 pm and 5 am, a police release said on Saturday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan carried out the state-level inauguration of the scheme on February 24.

The Nirbhaya Nisha scheme focuses on providing real-time police assistance to women in emergency situations through the coordinated operation of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), SOS button on the Pol-App, 112 helpline, district control rooms, highway patrol, and pink patrol vehicles.

“The main objectives of the project are to ensure safe travel for women returning from night work, set up a rapid response system in emergency situations, strengthen police patrolling, and utilise technological systems such as control room monitoring and hotspot analysis,” the official press release said.

As part of the implementation of the scheme, a women’s walk will be organised from Ernakulam Boat Jetty to Abdul Kalam Marg at 7 pm, the release said.

Additionally, a self-defence training programme for women, a musical event by the police orchestra, and brochure distribution about the project will also be held, it added.