Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding women's safety. In this letter, Mamata has recommended the central government to make strict laws regarding women's safety. Mamata Banerjee has mentioned her letter sent on August 22 regarding the need for strict central law on rape incidents and giving severe punishment to the criminals of such crimes.

Mamata wrote that I did not receive any reply from you on this letter but I have received a letter from the Minister of Women and Child Development of the Government of India. But the seriousness of the issue raised by me has not been paid attention to in this. I think that while sending this general reply, enough attention was not paid to the seriousness of the issue and its relevance to the society. 

Not only this, I will also mention some initiatives already taken by our state regarding women safety which have been ignored in the answer. Regarding Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC), 10 exclusive POCSO courts have been approved by the state government. Apart from this, 88 FTSCs and 62 POCSO courts are fully functional across the state. Monitoring and disposal of cases is completely in the hands of the court.

As per the Central Government guidelines, only retired judicial officers can be posted as Presiding Officers in FTSCs, but the Hon'ble High Court has said that considering the gravity of the cases, permanent judicial officers need to be posted. This requires appropriate action at the level of the Government of India, for which your intervention will be necessary.

Apart from this, helpline numbers 112 and 1098 are working satisfactorily in the state. Dial 100 is also used extensively in emergency situations. I would like to reiterate that mandatory provision should be made for disposal of cases within a fixed time frame by the trial officers. Also consider a strict central law and exemplary punishment on the heinous crimes of rape/rape and murder. I hope that this matter will get a lot of attention from your side in the interest of our society at large. Let us tell you that earlier on August 22, Mamata Banerjee had also written a letter to PM Modi demanding a strict central law for heinous crimes like rape.