India Gets Single Emergency Number ‘112’: All You Need to Know

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday, 19 February, launched emergency number '112', a pan-India network of the single emergency helpline on which immediate assistance can be sought by people.

Amarinder Singh said this system would be extremely beneficial for people in distress situations, especially women and other vulnerable sections of the society, as there would be significant improvement in police response to calls during such situations. It would further improve the overall security environment in state and would also help in prevention of crime, he added.

Here is all you need to know about the newly-launched Emergency Response Support System:

• Similar to the '911' in the US, the single number for various emergency services is being gradually rolled out across the country. The ‘112’ helpline will replace police helpline number (100) in two months.
• It is an integration of police (100), fire (101) and women (1090) helpline numbers. The health helpline (108) will be integrated with it soon.
• Funds to the tune of Rs 9.28 crore have been allocated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to Punjab state for the project. Of this, Rs 3 crore was released in March 2018 for the first phase of the project and Rs 5.21 crore allotted for the purchase of Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs).
• With the fully automated and computerised facility, each call will be recorded, leading to improved police support/response to any crisis or distress situation, a Punjab government spokesperson told IANS. "Initially, the aim is to achieve a response time of 10-12 minutes to any call, which will be brought down to 8 minutes in 6-8 months," he said.
• The National Emergency Response System Building will come up on Punjab government-owned land at Sector-89 in Mohali.
• All calls to '112' from across Punjab will land at the Central Call Taking Centre, located at Punjab Police Housing Corporation Building, Phase-VII, Mohali, and the same would further be routed to 12 dispatch centres situated in Rupnagar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Bathinda, Sangrur and Patiala.

• There would be 49 workstations at this Central Call Taking Centre and calls from common citizens from all over Punjab would be received at 44 (call takers) of these work stations.
• The location of patrolling vehicles, to be fitted with MDTs, would be displayed on the video screen of the dispatcher. The dispatcher would then activate the nearest patrol vehicle to reach the place from where the call originated.
• The in-charge of the patrolling vehicle, after attending the complaint, will report back to the dispatcher with details of incident/caller.
• Once Mobile Data Terminals are installed in patrolling vehicles, the same would facilitate exchange of texts/mails/videos between different control rooms and vehicles.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)