Home Minister R R Patil launches safety and security campaign for citizens

The Mumbai police, on Monday, launched a new campaign titled ‘Mumbai Ke Liye 1 Minute', aimed at the safety and security of citizens. The campaign encourages the public to be aware of their surroundings and asks people to participate, in order to ensure a safe city.

Just a minute: Home Minister R R Patil, with CP Dr Satyapal Singh, Joint CP Himanshu Roy and Joint CP (Law and Order) Sadanand Date, at the launch of ‘Mumbai Ke Liye 1 Minute' campaign. Pic/Suresh KK

"Every citizen should give one minute of his time to check what is around him. He/she should check for any suspicious bags, vehicles, objects etc. Just one minute of your time will save not only yourself, but also the city. Being the financial capital, Mumbai is always on the radar of anti-social elements. But if the citizens take care and are always aware, nobody will ever succeed in carrying out a blast in the city," said R R Patil, the Home Minister of Maharashtra, at the launch of the campaign at Prerna Police Hall in Azad Maidan.

Police Commissioner
Dr Satyapal Singh added, "The bomb that killed 17 people in German Bakery in Pune had been kept there in a bag for 86 minutes. Many people saw it, and one of the employees at the bakery even brought it to the notice of the cashier. But he was too busy handling the cash and did not pay much heed to it. It finally exploded and killed 17 people."

The commissioner said that the police had written thrice to the bakery to take care of security, as many foreigners frequented the place, but the management didn't listen to them. "If the cashier had given just one minute of his time and had called the police, he could have saved 17 lives," said Singh. Hence, the campaign is called ‘Mumbai Ke Liye 1 Minute'.

The campaign has been created by Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), Mumbai. Harshad Rajadhyaksha, group creative director at O&M and the creator of the campaign said, "We're proud to have associated ourselves with the Mumbai police. It's a campaign that is close to everyone in the city and is important to each and every person in the city." The campaign consists of banners, posters and video clips. The video clips will be shown in movie theatres, BEST buses and railway stations.

The programme has received Rs 1.5 crore in funds from a corporate bank. But, in order to reach more people, the campaign needs to be advertised on TV, for which there are no funds that have been sanctioned from the state government.

"Most of the time, such video clips, which give social messages, end up being shown only in theatres, BEST buses and railway station advertisement boards. At these places, people hardly have the time to watch them. We don't have the budgets to run the campaign on TV," said a police officer.

When asked about the lack of funding, Patil said he would try his best to make funds available for the campaign.u00a0

Chargesheet in Shakti Mills rape case by Thursday
The Home Minister, R R Patil also announced that the Crime Branch would be filing the chargesheet in the Shakti Mills rape case by Thursday.

On August 22, a photojournalist was gang-raped by five people at Shakti Mills, while on an assignment.u00a0"We will try and finish it by Thursday. If necessary, we will also file a supplementary chargesheet," said a crime branch officer.u00a0