New Delhi: India may soon have a single '112' number for all its emergency services, similar to the '911' in the US, as the inter-ministerial Telecom Commission has given a go-ahead to the measure.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had made the suggestion in its recommendations submitted to the Telecom Department in April 2015.
The number, '112', will be used for emergency services such as the fire department, police and ambulance services.
The emergency number is expected to be rolled out in the next few months after Telecom minister's nod. All other existing emergency numbers will be phased out gradually. They will remain available as secondary numbers till they are phased out completely.
In India, different emergency communication and response systems are in place - police (100), fire brigade (101), ambulance (102) and Emergency Disaster Management (108).
Also, a number of states have notified various helpline numbers for assistance to special categories of citizens, like Woman in distress - 181 (Delhi), Missing Children and Women - 1094 (Delhi), Crime Against Women - 1096 (Delhi), Police Headquarter helpline - 1090 (Uttar Pradesh) etc.
A person in distress will now need to call 112, which will direct the call to concerned departments immediately for help. The service will also be accessible even through those SIMs and landlines whose outgoing call facility has been stopped or temporarily suspended.
A user will be able to make communication even through SMS and the system will learn about the location of the caller that will be shared with the nearest help centre.
The service will be operated by a call centre like facility, which will have representatives speaking in Hindi, English and the local language.
(With PTI Inputs)
Comments
0 comment