Safest Vs Least Safe Cities in India: Report

NARI 2025 Report: The National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025 found that Delhi, Kolkata, and Patna had the lowest rankings for women’s safety, while Mumbai and Kohima were among the safest cities in the nation.

Vijaya Rahatakar, the chairwoman of the National Commission for Women (NCW), announced the NARI index, which is produced by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA), in Delhi on Thursday. The index ranks the safety standards for women in these countries based on a poll of 12,770 women in 31 different countries. The measure classified cities as “much above, above, at, below, or much below” benchmarks based on the national safety score, which was 65 percent.

Safest Cities in India:
1. Kohima
2. Vishakhapatnam
3. Bhubaneswar
4. Aizawl
5. Gangtok
6. Itanagar
7. Mumbai

The above cities often rank among the safest cities with higher gender equity, infrastructure, and civic participation.

Least Safest Cities in India:
1. Ranchi
2. Srinagar
3. Kolkata
4. Delhi
5. Faridabad
6. Patna
7. Jaipur

The above cities often rank among the least safe cities with poorer infrastructure, weaker institutional responsiveness.

Safety Standards in the Cities:
Forty percent of the women felt “not so safe” or “unsafe” in their city, even though six out of ten said they felt “safe” overall. There was also a significant decline in women’s safety at night, particularly in public transportation and leisure areas. Even though the safety rate for schools was 86% during the day, opinions drastically declined at night or off campus.

Only one-fourth of women said they had faith that authorities would effectively address their safety concerns. More than 30% of respondents pointed out serious flaws or gaps in the safety procedures now in place, while 69% of respondents indicated they were only moderately adequate. Just 65% of participants thought that the previous two years (2023–2024) had seen any real progress.

Harassment Cases in Public:
Seven percent of women reported having been harassed in public last year. The survey found that the most often reported harassment hotspots were neighborhoods (38%), followed by public transportation (29%). Only one in three of these victims reported the incidents.