The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry, working on the first hurdle in the first set of the trial run, is now working on a new system to change that
The trials for panic buttons in mobile phones have run into an unique problem — the cost of the SMSes. Most of the 2,000 women who used the panic button during the trial runs in Uttar Pradesh have complained about being charged for the messages, which they are not willing to pay.
The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry, working on the first hurdle in the first set of the trial run, is now working on a new system to change that. Newer trial runs have been announced, and the mobile application for the panic button will get an upgrade.
Apart from the app upgrade, the Centre is also working on training volunteers.
When a woman presses a panic button, a message is sent out to the police, a team of over 25 volunteers and relatives of the woman. Apart from the SMS costing money, other hurdles that the provision hit were the lack of a robust communication between the three sets of people. Messages were not reaching volunteers and relatives either.
A senior official involved in the process has said that the mobile application is likely to see over four to five trial runs before it is launched. "To be rolled out across the country, we will need to test it thoroughly," said the official.
The official added that Uttar Pradesh was selected because it has a good record of implementation of emergency helpline system of 112; Lucknow also has a chowk dedicated to the emergency helpline.
In April 2016, the Department of Telecommunications made it mandatory for mobile phone makers to provide panic buttons in cellphones by January 2017. Since then, the button has run into several problems, including one of prank calls.
PAID MESSAGES
2,000 women who used the panic button during the trial runs in Uttar Pradesh have complained about being charged for the messages, which they are not willing to pay.
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