PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
PValue Analytics, the agency behind the National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025, told the Dehradun police and the Uttarakhand State Commission for Women (USCW) that they never mentioned Dehradun to be an unsafe city in the survey report. They said that its report was based on perception based questions and only meant for academic use, the superintendent of police (Rural) Jaya Baluni claimed.
She told that the agency clarified that the agency said it regularly conducts surveys for private companies and used existing contact data to reach out to women in different cities, including Dehradun. “They informed that in Dehradun, the agency surveyed 406 women and asked perception-based questions, such as whether they felt safe going out at night. Women often respond negatively to such questions in cities with limited nightlife, so such responses do not mean that the city is unsafe,” she said.
She further stated that the agency reported that the national average for perceived women’s safety was 11 per cent while Dehradun scored 40 percent. They said this shows Dehradun cannot be considered unsafe based on their data and that the report has been misinterpreted, as per Baluni.
She stated that PValue Analytics claimed that this was its first survey on women’s safety and that it will be more cautious in the future. The authorities advised the agency to use a larger sample size for greater accuracy and to coordinate with local authorities before conducting similar surveys, she added.
