The Delhi Government was left red-faced on Monday as its much publicised three-digit helpline for women in distress ended in a damp squib. The helpline ‘181’ was a non-starter and the Government was quick to blame it on a “technical glitch”.
The special helpline number that was announced days after the gruesome gang-rape of a 23-year-old in a bus on December 16 was expected to start functioning on Monday. The Government had publicised that callers can reach the helpline number from MTNL landlines as well as mobile networks.
Though the Government maintained that the helpline would be functional by later afternoon, there was no response to calls The Hindu made to the number till as late as 7 p.m.
Following the furore over the brutal gang-rape and the subsequent death of the medical student in a Singapore hospital on Saturday, the Government had announced several measures to stem crimes against women, a dedicated helpline being one of them.
The helpline ‘181’ has been set up at Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s office at Delhi Secretariat and will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city.
The Union Telecom Ministry had last week released the three-digit number following a request by the Delhi Government. It was initially decided to allot ‘167’ as the helpline number, but later changed to ‘181’ to ensure its easy recall.
Keywords: 181 helpline, women in distress, Delhi government, Sheila Dikshit
Not surprising actually. After all, the helpline is launched by the Government, obviously it will not be of any use. Had it worked on the first go, it would be worthy of a mention in Guniess Book of World Records. The CM can do only this - launching a failed helpline - nothing else is expected of her.
Sheila Dikshit's comments following the death of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan is too welknown.To think of perpetrators of crime allowing the victim time to dial a number and talk sounds ridiculous.Ideally if telecom companies may find ways to activate a single-number-automated-alert-system that may operate even when the phone is locked it may help.Software engineers may consider options.
Is it any surprise that the helpline does NOT work? What do you expect from any government initiative? Does the public really think that our (the public) interest will be placed first? Does this "Sheila" really think that we belive this "helpline" was meant to help women? If these politicians are addicted to going after votes, I say to them, "At least check to see that your latest scam is in working order."
Please Email the Editor