In partnership with Hope for the Children Foundation (HFCF), this initiative set out to strengthen women's safety across Pimpri-Chinchwad through a combination of physical infrastructure, awareness, and community engagement. Running from June 2025, the project was delivered in close coordination with the Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissionerate and the District Legal Services Authority, Pune, ensuring that surveillance upgrades and public awareness efforts were backed by real institutional weight rather than standing alone.
The objective was to build a safer, more responsive environment for women through three connected strands: expanding safety infrastructure in high-risk areas, equipping women and communities with the knowledge and confidence to recognise risk and access support and giving women a stake in their own economic independence and safety.
Turning that into action started with a need-based assessment across Bhosari MIDC, North Chakan, and South Mahalunge, mapping high-risk zones across industrial areas, transport hubs, and isolated public spaces. That groundwork led to 89 CCTV cameras being installed across the three police jurisdictions, including strategically placed ANPR cameras at critical points, following 42 stakeholder meetings with police officials, government authorities, and CSR partners. The rollout was formally inaugurated in November 2025 by the Police Commissioner of Pimpri-Chinchwad and has already shown results on the ground: CCTV footage helped police trace a missing college student in Bhosari, and vendors at Manik Chowk market in North Chakan report a marked drop in harassment, theft, and snatching since installation.
Alongside the cameras, the project built out a City-wide Advocacy Campaign combining social media, radio, and grassroots outreach. 27 social media posts reached over a lakh people, two expert interviews on Akashvani radio reached an estimated 25 lakh listeners across Maharashtra, and awareness materials were distributed at community touchpoints including the Alandi Kartiki Ekadashi Yatra. On the ground, 13 awareness sessions trained police officers, municipal staff, teachers, and students on the POSH Act, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, and POCSO, while the Purple Ribbon Campaign - aligned with the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence - brought self-defence training, legal rights sessions, and school drives to schools, colleges, and communities across the region.
The project also laid the groundwork for longer-term economic empowerment through the Pink Rickshaw Initiative, working with the District and State Women and Child Development Departments to support 15 women beneficiaries into women-led, safe transport livelihoods - with beneficiary assessments underway and financial support mechanisms, including down payments and EMIs, being worked out ahead of full rollout.