Emergency Helpline For Women By 2017: Government

NEW DELHI: Women’s safety has been a big question mark since years. But after the horrendous Nirbhaya incident which is almost two years now, government seem to focus more on women’s safety. The new move from government is to set up a single emergency response number across the country for women’s safety reports Economic Times. Even the Union home ministry has invited bids for operationalzing the national emergency response helpline 112, even as the telecom ministry and TRAI are still in discussion on modalities of its allotment.

The proposed helpline is just replica of 911 systems in the U.S. The number will integrate various existing emergency help lines like 100 (police), 101 (fire), 108 (ambulance) and ensure that timely help reaches callers in distress without their having to indicate their location.

Initially the national emergency response system will focus on women's security but later its scope may eventually be widened to take calls from all sections of people facing all types of emergencies. Union home ministry sources said they have asked the number '112' to be assigned to the helpline, a demand that DoT is set to consider favorably as reported in Times of India.

Through the home ministry bid the IT solutions provider will be selected as it will help set up a national operations centre, besides various state-level centres. The 321-crore national emergency response helpline project, to be funded out of Nirbhaya Fund, will enable women to send distress messages through a phone call, SMS, online chats, mobile apps and even panic buttons in public transport systems and GPS-based accessories like wrist bands. As soon as the message is received, response agencies such as police, ambulance or fire brigade will be alerted to reach the victim, whose location the system can pinpoint on its own, without delay.