Starting today, 16 states, UTs will have single emergency helpline number i.e 112. This will be similar to the 911 helpline number offered in US and Canada. Currently, in order to seek help for emergency situations, citizens have to dial and keep track of different numbers like 100 for police, 101 for fire bridge etc.
Service will be inaugurated today by central home minister, Mr. Rajnath singh along with other women safety related measures like Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences ( ITSSO) and monitoring portal for safe city implementation.
Various ways to access services under new system.
- Dial 112 from your phone.
- On smartphone press power button 3 times (quickly) to send panic call to emergency response centre (ERC).
- Long press of 5 or 9 key on a feature phone.
- Logging emergency on ERSS website.
- ‘112 India’ mobile app available on both Google and Apple app store.
Services covered under 112
- Police ( existing emergency helpline -100 )
- Fire brigade ( existing emergency helpline -101 )
- Health services ( existing emergency helpline -108 )
- Women helpline number ( existing emergency helpline -1090)
States and UTs covered
For now below states and UT will be covered. This will be expanded to remaining states in due course of time.
- Andaman
- Andhra Pradesh
- Dadar Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Gujarat
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Kerala
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Punjab
- Puducherry
- Rajasthan
- Telangana
- Tamil Nadu
- Uttarakhand
- Uttar Pradesh
This centralised control centre will not only bring more efficiency, professionalism and transparency into helpline services, but will also boost ease of use via multiple engagement mode. ‘112 India’ mobile app and panic call features will go long way in offering the robust and easy to use methods for women safety in India.
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