Karnataka's crackdown on women's PG is misdirected

With multiple cases of assault and stalking, the Karnataka state government is planning to adopt new measures for PG accommodation for women in Bengaluru. This is to increase vigilance and security of the accommodations. 

Recently, a high-level meeting was held to discuss methods to increase safety for women living in PG accommodations across the city. In this meeting, one of the suggestions made was compulsory registration of the PGs. Earlier, PGs with less than 12 residents did not require a licence, but now owners will have to register them. 

The new measures also include running a background check on PG owners and maintaining the record at the registration office and also the local police station. Background of the girls living in PGs will be checked, and records will be maintained. 

To implement the new changes, the current act will have to be amended. Also, a monitoring body will be set up to ensure proper functioning of the PGs as per the regulations.

While making these new changes and measures, the officials also cautioned that the PGs do not turn into jail in the name of enhancing security. The officials advocated time flexibility while enhancing safety. 

Security has become a major concern for the women living in Bengaluru, and there is a need to enhance security for them. But, while doing so, they should not be forced to live in a jail-like environment. Specifically, the provision to keep a record of a PG resident’s background and owners’ background is an authoritarian measure that the official should reconsider.  

Also, rather than monitoring the movement of the women, it is important to identify the miscreants and keep a track on their movement. In fact, adopting all these measures do not guarantee that such incidences will not get repeated and some of the new measures are rather misogynist in nature. 

There is a need for enhancing the safety of the women living in the city, but it is not only on women to bear the brunt of it. The measures for the PGs should also include provisions to make the locality in which the PGs are located safer for the women. 

• Bengaluru
• PGs
• Women safety