Many of us, fed on a steady diet of American movies, TV sitcoms and other content know that Americans can dial 911 in case of any emergency. But what about Indian emergencies? We know that we dial 100 for police, right? Or is it 101? Or perhaps 102 or 103? What do you call if there is a police emergency, fire, accident, need for an ambulance, etc? What number should women or seniors in distress call?
Dialing this number from your phone is supposed to connect you to your nearest police station. When dialed in Delhi, 100 connects you to the police control room. The call is usually answered within a couple of rings and is seen to be responsive. This however is not the case everywhere, and responsiveness and reaction times are thought to vary greatly from place to place.
User generated content on forums such as Quora as well as other news reports seem to indicate that places such as Chennai have among the quickest and most responsive emergency services whereas others in areas such as Ranchi and surrounding areas may find that their calls don’t connect or often remain unanswered.
Last year, the personal experience of a Delhi High Court judge when he dialed 100, led to a public interest litigation being filed. When Justice Vipin Sanghi called up the helpline number, there was no reponse in spite of many attempts. The letter he addressed to the police resulted in the court taking suo moto cognizance of the matter and initiating a PIL.
Resource crunch and poor connectivity / technical issues are not the only problems why dialing 100 may not generate required results. It is estimated that about 72,000 blank calls are made to the Delhi police each day. People call in to harass, pass lewd comments or to have some fun at the expense of emergency response personnel. In the bargain people who have genuine problems are denied the help they need.
According to an announcement made last year 100 for police, 101 for fire, 102 for ambulance, and other helpline / emergency numbers will soon be replaced with a single emergency number: 112 is thought to be India’s answer to America’s 911 (or New Zealand’s 111, UK’s 999, Australia’s 000 and Europe's 112). The current emergency numbers will continue to be operational until about the middle of 2017 however they will be phased out in favour of this single number based on TRAI recommendations. SMS access will be permitted and the number will be prioritized in mobile networks. Call centres that cater to local languages will also be set up. The number will also work if there is balance in the caller's account or if their phone is locked.
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