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Identification system sought for Delhi

Staff Reporter

We have a right to know how safe the city is, demands NGO "

NEW DELHI: Expressing anguish over the blasts that shook the Capital this past Saturday, People's Action, a non-government organisation, on Thursday demanded to know what concrete steps the Delhi Government was planning to take to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.

"It is time to move beyond congratulating ourselves on the spirit of tenacity of the city. After the London bombings and 9/11 attacks in New York, the response was quick and effective. They changed the whole security doctrine. The Mayors of London and New York became heroes after the bombings and brought in new consciousness. Our Government on the other hand is depending on the kindness of Al-Qaeda to avoid a repeat of the events for it does not even have a head count of the numbers of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Nepali nationals living in Delhi,'' said the president of People's Action, Sanjay Kaul, at a press conference here.

There was an urgent need to introduce an identification system in the Capital to be able to monitor the movement of people, added Mr. Kaul. "There is no replacement for issuing some sort of identification system for the city. People who are least likely to commit such a crime have different identity cards like driving licence or bank details. But people who are likely to commit the crime and live in ghettos are allowed to roam freely because it becomes a communal issue. They are not touched because of vote-bank politics,'' he added.

Stating that the citizen's right to life is a fundamental responsibility of the Government, Mr. Kaul said: "We have a right to know how safe the city is. The police have installed security doorways in Defence Colony, but they are not plugged in. One of the suggestions we have made in our representation to the Government is to issue work permits to people who work in Delhi. We have the technology to implement it, we just need the will."

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