Chandigarh, September 24– As a part of ongoing awareness drive of Haryana police to popularise ‘Durga Shakti’, a mobile application for women’s safety that was recently launched by Chief Minister of Haryana, Sh. Manohar Lal, a team of eight police officials visited at J.C. Bose (erstwhile YMCA) University of Science and Technology, Faridabad and made aware the girl students and female staff of the University about the functioning of the ‘Durga Shakti App’ and requested them to download the application, and also get their family members and friends to do the same.
Describing mobile app as a good initiative to provide a safety tool in the easiest manner to the women and girls by the State Government, Vice Chancellor Prof. Dinesh Kumar urged all girls to download the app in their mobile phones as it was useful in ensuring their safety and security.
On the urge of Vice Chancellor, all the girl students and female staff of the University downloaded the ‘Durga Shakti App’ and assured the officials that they will also aware their friends and relatives about the initiative of the Haryana Police so that more and more girls can be aware of this application and protect themselves from any kind of threat.
The police officials interacted with the girl students and apprised them about the initiative being taken by the State Government for women’s safety. The interactive session was coordinated by Dr. Sonia Bansal, Dy. Dean, Student Welfare and Dr. Anju Gupta, Chairperson, Women Cell.
The police officials apprised that they are making efforts to popularise the app and want the maximum number of women to download it. The app will enable women in the city to seek the help of the police through the women helpline number 1091, in case of an emergency. The app can be downloaded for free on smart phones and will help women in distress to alert the police instantly. The app is linked to the police control room and with the patrolling vehicles in the city. The app also consists of a ‘panic button’ in case one is not in a position to make a call. After five minutes of pressing the panic button, the Durga Shakti PCR will respond and arrive at the given location.
It is mandatory to register once on the mobile app. The victim does not need to speak. Once the red button is pressed, she can send information about her GPS location, blood group and other details in form of a WhatsApp message to the Women Helpline number. The victim can also speak to the operator at the helpline number.
It may be noted that about 50 PCR vans are exclusively working for the Durga Shakti App in the whole of Haryana out of which six vehicles has been provided to Faridabad for ‘Durga Shakti Rapid Action Force’ to check crime against women across the city which is stationed at major locations.