Soon, a panic button in mobile phones to help women in distress

Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi has managed to get mobile phone firms on board for providing a panic button in handsets by March that will send alerts to police in case of emergency.
Regulations in this regard will be issued by the department of telecommunications soon, Gandhi said.
The plan that has been finalized with the consensus of mobile manufacturers will help address the issues of women’s security as both new and existing phones will be able to install the enhanced feature.
“It took us one year to finalize this initiative. We held several meetings with mobile companies and they have finally agreed to provide panic buttons in mobile phones,” she said. “If a woman feels she is in trouble, the only thing she has to do is press that button and it will immediately send a message to the police,” she said.
Gandhi said while the new handsets will come with in-built buttons, customers will be able to upgrade their phones at dedicated centres. “We have asked the companies to built at least 10,000 centres across the country to facilitate mobile phone users in upgrading their phones and adding the button,” she said.
Other measures being taken by the women and child development ministry include launching of a national women helpline number that will be common throughout the country to provide assistance to women in distress. The helpline operations will be integrated with one-stop centres that provide police, legal, medical and counselling assistance to women.
The government has prepared a scheme of special police volunteers in every village to involve young educated girls in community policing. They will be trained to function as a bridge between police and community women, and will help in ensuring protection of women against violence of all kinds.