It has been about one week after the launch of two prestigious projects by the Police Department in the State- Abhayam and I-CLIK (Instant-Complaint Login Internet Kiosk), and the senior officers say that the projects are functioning on the right track, but the progress is a bit slow. Abhayam and I-CLIK were launched by Home Minister N. Chinarajappa on January 20 in Visakhapatnam as pilot projects.
While Abhayam is a mobile application that can be downloaded into smart phones and used by women to alert the department of a crime taking place, I-CLIK is a kiosk where anybody can just walk in and file a complaint without going to a police station.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) C.M. Thri Vikrama Varma, so far the Central Command Centre (CCC) has received about 400 panic calls under the Abhayam programme. “Majority of the calls were test calls, which were done after a person had registered for the Abhayam option,” said Dr. Varma. There were no false calls also, said Inspector Bangaru Papa, who is heading the CCC The Abhayam application can be downloaded for free from the Google stores or from thewww.appolice.gov.inand one has to register after filling an online form. Once registered, a panic button will be activated and the button can be pressed in case of an emergency, said the DCP.
As far as I-CLIK is considered, it is learnt that about six persons have used the facility to lodge complaints. But most of them were general complaints and family disputes.
“Our target for both programmes is women and awareness has to pickup, for which we are contemplating running an awareness campaign,” said Dr. Varma.
Reiterating DGP J.V. Ramudu’s concern, DCP Varma said: “False calls and bogus complaints will be strictly dealt with.”
The new projects aimed at safety of women were launched on January 20
