Punjab, Haryana, Delhi on top; southern states, Gujarat safest for women

safia@coastaldigest.com (PTI)
March 6, 2013

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Mumbai, Mar 6: Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have been ranked at the top of the Well Being Index (WBI), while southern states, Gujarat and most of the north-eastern states emerged as the most secure ones for women in the Female Security Index (FSI).

This was found by Tata Strategic Management Group which analysed multiple government sources and surveys to publish its 2013 edition of Well Being Index (WBI) and Female Security Index (FSI) for India here today.

The states of Punjab, Delhi, HP, Haryana and Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh were ranked at the top of the WBI, while Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar appeared at the bottom, Tata Strategic Management Group Chief Executive Raju Bhinge said.

On the FSI, Hyderabad and Delhi were the lowest-ranked amongst the metro cities, while Chennai and Bangalore were at the top. Southern states, Gujarat and most of the north-eastern states emerged as the most secure for women, while Haryana, MP, Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan states had the lowest ranking on FSI, Bhinge said.

"The findings of WBI and FSI will be useful for entities working on improving overall well-being of rural and urban India and those working on women's safety and empowerment," Bhinge said.

The key findings of the WBI 2013, includes most of the peninsular India and north India was rated average or better on WBI, while most of Central and East India were average or worse-off compared to rest of India. Metro cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Haridwar were the best ranked districts in WBI in their respective regions, while less known districts like Mahe and Thiruvallur were among the best 20 districts in India on WBI.

Tata Strategic said it has measured the material well-being of a consumer household along eight key dimensions: home, kitchen, hygiene, entertainment, communication, transportation, education and healthcare.

Using the household data, the district-level well-being was measured and finally all districts were ranked on the basis of the WBI. "Assessment of people's well-being is incomplete without the well-being of women in Indian society," Bhinge said, adding that it used the FSI to measure the safety of women in the society.

Social parameters consisting of gender ratio in the 0-6 year age group, dowry deaths and rape crimes against women were used to create the FSI rank of all the districts in the country.

"The study brings to us some interesting findings. Southern states, Gujarat and most north-eastern states rank high on FSI. The lowest ranked on FSI are Haryana, HP, Punjab and Delhi. The top 10 WBI list includes two clusters: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab, Delhi, Haryana.

Incidentally, Tamil Nadu is the only large state to figure amongst the top 10 in both the WBI and FSI rankings," Bhinge said. The findings of the FSI said that there is a clear divide between North and South India on women's security.

While southern states, Gujarat and most North-Eastern states emerged as the most secure for women, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and UP were the worst states on FSI. Delhi-NCR also had higher rape incidences and dowry deaths per lakh female population compared to other top 8 cities.

On gender ratio in the 0 to 6 years age group, there was a clear divide with North and West India seen to be worse compared to the rest of India. A comparison of WBI and FSI reveals no clear correlation between female security and well-being in a state. Southern states were the only ones faring well on both the parameters, while eastern states predominantly lag on both. Some of the economically-advanced states like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana were the lowest in female security, he said.

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News Network
May 13,2025

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Srinagar: Following an unprecedented episode of intense cross-border shelling by the Pakistan Army that directly targeted the towns of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government is moving to construct community bunkers in these towns and other vulnerable areas along the Line of Control (LoC).

While the government has, over the past decade, supported the construction of both individual and community bunkers along the LoC and the International Border (IB), towns like Rajouri and Poonch had been excluded from such initiatives. These towns were considered safe, as previous shelling incidents were largely restricted to forward villages closer to the border.

Officials now say the latest shelling marks a dangerous shift in the pattern of cross-border hostilities.

“The nature and intensity of the attack marked a significant departure from past ceasefire violations. For the first time in years, heavily populated towns like Rajouri and Poonch were directly hit,” a senior official said.

Caught unprepared, residents in both towns had little access to protective infrastructure as long-range mortar shells struck deep inside civilian areas.

“People weren’t expecting this—these towns had never been targeted before. Without bunkers, many had nowhere to go for safety,” the official added.

In response, the government now plans to build community bunkers at strategic locations throughout Rajouri and Poonch. These reinforced shelters will offer immediate protection to civilians during any future shelling incidents.

“In areas where individual bunkers aren't viable, community shelters become essential. These will provide residents with quick access to safety in emergencies,” the official noted.

The attacks have left local communities rattled.

“This is the first time shells landed so close to our homes in Poonch town,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident. “We never thought this would happen here.”

The sudden escalation has disrupted the fragile calm along the LoC, raising concerns over a potential return to more violent confrontations in the region.

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News Network
April 29,2025

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The Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed a plea by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, undergoing life imprisonment in connection with a 1990 custodial death case, for bail and the suspension of his sentence. While denying him the relief, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also directed that the hearing of his appeal be expedited.

“We are not inclined to enlarge the appellant Sanjiv Kumar Bhatt on bail. However, we make it clear that the observations made herein above are restricted to the prayer for bail only and will have no bearing on the appeals of the appellant and the co-accused. The prayers sought by the appellant, Sanjiv Kumar Bhatt, for the grant of bail are dismissed. Hearing of the appeal is directed to be expedited,” Justice Mehta said while reading out the order.

The case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Gujarat’s Jamnagar. He had detained around 133 people under the stringent Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act during a communal riot in Jamjodhpur town.

On November 18, 1990, one of those detained, Prabhudas Vaishnani, died in a hospital after he was released, allegedly due to torture while he was in custody. A complaint of custodial death was registered against seven policemen, including Bhatt, by Amrutlal Vaishnani, the brother of the deceased, following which the investigation was transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) branch in Gandhinagar.

In 1995, the CID investigating officer requested sanction from the government to prosecute Bhatt as is required for the prosecution of a government officer when on duty. However, the government did not grant the sanction. After that, CID filed a summary report, which is a closure report, in the court. However, the court rejected this report in December 1995 and instead took cognisance of offences alleged against Bhatt and six others.

An A-summary report was filed in this case in 1995 after the Gujarat Government refused to grant sanction for prosecuting Bhatt. However, after Bhatt’s deposition in relation to the 2002 communal riots before the Nanavati and the Mehta commissions between May and July 2011, the state government withdrew protection granted to him, and the Jamnagar court began framing charges soon after.

A Jamnagar sessions court sentenced Bhatt to life imprisonment in June 2019. This was subsequently upheld by a Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court.

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News Network
May 8,2025

New Delhi: The government is briefing an all-party meeting on Thursday on the success of "Operation Sindoor" and its aftermath, as top government functionaries and opposition leaders met for a second time in a fortnight amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, S Jaishankar, J P Nadda and Nirmala Sitharaman represented the government, while Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge from the Congress, Sandip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress and DMK's T R Baalu were among the leading opposition figures in the meeting.

Other opposition leaders included Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Sanjay Singh of the AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut, NCP (SP)'s Supriya Sule, BJD's Sasmit Patra and CPI(M)'s John Brittas.

JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha, Union minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi were also part of the meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government wanted to brief all parties on "Operation Sindoor".

In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke.

The military strikes were carried out under 'Operation Sindoor' two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

The government had earlier called an all-party meeting on April 24 to brief leaders on the attack.

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