A special drive, spearheaded by Lucknow police, has been launched in the city to spread awareness amongst women around their rights and duties. Moreover, women will be acquainted with government schemes catering to them and their benefits.

For the same purpose, a beat book has been printed which will be distributed by women constables on duty. These beat cops (also referred to as 'Shakti Didi') will implement the campaigns with the assistance of ANM nurses, Shiksha Mitras and ASHA bahus.

The head of the campaign, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) Aparna Rajat Kaushik, talked about the aim of the exercise, which was to empower the women beat system, instill a sense of safety in females and sentisitise policemen to respect women.

"We have adjudicated pink booths in the city with women's beats. If a woman is coming with a problem and grievance, she can easily get a place to sit and feel comfortable. In this way, they will also be able to explain their problems better," she explained the significance of pink booths.

"All the SHOs have been asked to initiate necessary legal action on the complaints made by a woman beat police officer and ensure that her problem is solved by going to her village for investigation," the DCP added.

The final objective is to resolve women-related complaints within the next 15 days. The campaign will also be monitored daily by senior officers at the district level and at the police headquarters.

Additionally, anti-Romeo squads have been created to protect women and girls from stalkers, eve-teasers and such miscreants. The women beat constables, or Shakti Didis, will also be looking for areas, beats and villages, where they can interact with the women facing the issues and resolve their problems.

(With inputs from IANS)