Deputy CM R. Ashok recently announced that GPS and CCTV systems would be installed on all BMTC buses to deter crimes against women, and that the transport corporation would call for tenders within a week. More than a week later, it seems nobody in the BMTC knows anything about the project. Grand announcements by ministers usually come to nought because there’s no coordination between different departments or due to ministerial politics. In this case, though, Mr. Ashok is also Home minister and Transport minister – all thedepartments concerned are under him. So what might be the problem? Apathy.
While Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) R. Ashok had announced last week that a global tender would be floated inviting interest from private companies to install CCTVs and GPS on city buses within a week, no officer  of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) seems to have a clue about the project.
BMTC Managing Director Anjum Parvez is on a foreign junket and not expected for 10 days and Transport Commissioner, K.R. Srinivasa says it will be at least a week before there is any clarity on the issue, making a mockery of Mr Ashok's promise to deal with the issue wth some urgency. "Nothing concrete has been planned yet. We will be meeting several companies that are interested in taking up the CCTV- and GPS-installation projects next week. Only then will we have a better idea of what comes next,” he explained.        
BMTC’s General Manager (Technical), H. Babu Rao, when contacted, maintained he had no idea who would install the GPS on the buses. “We are not involved, please speak to the head of Traffic Management as they are in charge of this project,” he advised. 
But when approached, Chief Traffic Manager, G.N. Veeregowda said he had no details of the tender, or even whose responsibility the project was. “Our department is not handling the GPS installation. The person you need to speak to is the Systems Manager,” he said.
Efforts to contact BMTC’s Chief Systems Manager, K.N. Ingalagi, and Director of Service and Vigilance, B.K. Singh, however, proved futile. All this, barely a day after Mr Ashok handed out flyers and addressed the public while kicking off the‘Road Safety Week’ in the city. When are we actually going to see some results, Mr. Home Minister? 
A promise broken?
It was after two sisters from Bhutan were allegedly manhandled on a running BMTC Volvo bus in the city that the BMTC chief  came up with the idea of installing CCTVs and GPS on buses. While the promise has remained on paper so far, the driver and conductor  accused by the Bhutanese sisters have merely been suspended and given three months to reply to the charges .
The girls have threatened to lodge a complaint with the police if the BMTC does not take action against the  driver and the conductor. Asked why they had not done so already they said they wanted an impartial inquiry by the BMTC into the matter.
On the day of the incident,  the sisters had rushed to two traffic policemen for help after alighting from the bus near the Tin Factory bus stop, but were reportedly told to lodge a complaint with the nearby KR Puram police station.. “Instead of going to the police station we directly went to the BMTC office and registered a complaint,” they later said.
Meanwhile in a curious twist to the case,  the older of the two sisters, working with the real estate agency, has been sacked, allegedly because she asked a colleague to swipe her biometric card for attendance when she was absent. The girl worked with the administrative department and when the management learnt about the incident, it decided to terminate her services, according to some of the other employees.
Efforts to reach the older  Bhutanese  sister proved futile and her younger sister would only say she was  on leave on Wednesday, while refusing to share her phone number.
The change should begin with us
V. Ravichander, Civic activist
The nature of things in India is to give prominence to announcements and nothing more. Whether or not any measures are actually taken for the safety of women is secondary.
The problem is we have a culture where announcements made and actions taken are not neccessarily in agreement.  Eternal vigilance is the key to ensuring that  politicians actually keep their promises. I strongly think the media needs to keep track of these supposedly ground-breaking announcements and inform the public as to whether or not they are being followed through. We should be completely intolerant of false promises, especially when bereaved parties  are  offered compensation, but never receive it.  
 Take for instance the floods in North Karnataka last year. Hundreds of houses were constructed to help those who lost their homes, but not even one has been allocated to those who really need it. Why is it that these types of pronouncements are given prominence and then  nobody  hears about whether or not any action has been taken on them? We as a society should start giving more importance to achievements, as opposed to announcements. The change should begin with us , the people who consume the news, people who make the news, and people who are responsible for delivering that news. 
 It’s high time the people told politicians that they would not go by what  they say, but what they do. If we start rewarding officials based on their actions, they will come to realise that the only way they can be re-elected is if they actually deliver on their promises.