A single emergency helpline number ‘112’ was launched today. This will provide immediate assistance to people on various services like police, fire and women safety. The emergency number is launched under the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS). ERSS will eliminate the need for people to remember multiple numbers. Basically, ERSS is an integration of police (100), fire (101), health (108) and women (1090) helpline numbers to provide emergency services through the single number ‘112’.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched various initiatives for women safety in New Delhi. These services will be made available in 16 states and Union Territories (UTs), and Mumbai city with effect from today. The 16 states and UTs are Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman, Dadar Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, a home ministry statement said. The service has been already launched in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
The home minister also launched the investigation tracking system for sexual offences (ITSSO) and the safe city implementation monitoring (SCIM) portal. The ITSSO is meant for law enforcement agencies in the country. The SCIM portal will instil a sense of security in women in metro cities.
Here are few things to know about the emergency services:
1. To access the emergency services, a person can dial ‘112’ on a phone or press the power button of a smartphone three times quickly to send a panic call to the Emergency Response Centre (ERC).
2. In case of a normal phone, a long press of the ‘5’ or ‘9’ keyS will activate the panic call function, PTI quoted a home ministry official as saying.
3. People can also log on to the ERSS’ website for the state and lodge emergency email or send an SOS alert to the state ERC.
4. The ‘112’ India mobile app will also be available free on the Google Playstore and Apple store.
For more updates: Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter & Instagram.
