Government to take steps to help acid attack victims

New Delhi, Dec 24: The government Wednesday announced several measures to tackle the acid attack menace, a day after a woman doctor was injured in an acid attack in west Delhi. The measures include free treatment of acid attack victims, initiatives to categorise them as physically challenged and a web-based application to check the sale of acid. "In order to regulate the sale of acid, a web application having functionalities like registration of stockists and retailers, issue of licences by the district administration, targeting sale of acid to individuals only after recording personal details like proof of identity and proof of address of the purchaser will be developed. This measure will considerably reduce unauthorised sale of acid in the country," a home ministry statement said. The statement said that while the government has taken various steps in the past to regulate the sale of acid, more needs to be done as victims of acid attacks suffer a lot of anguish.