The government of Andhra Pradesh and its Police Department has developed a Disha SOS App for timely help to women in distress.
A button on mobile phones has been designated as SOS button, which in being pressed records a 5 second audio and video clip which along with the location will automatically be sent to the Police Control Room (PCR). The user also has an option to designate five numbers in phone’s contact list as emergency numbers, and the location will be shared with them as well. There is no charge, no loss, and absolutely no tracking of any data.
While the entire state started registration in March 2022, Prakasam district started the campaign in January 2022 with three different initiatives.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, IPS officer Malika Garg, SP, Prakasam District said, “It is important that all people, particularly women should have this app on their phone. Sometimes, the dial 100 doesn’t connect. In such distress Disha SOS app can be of great help.”
THE INITIATIVES
With the aim of enhancing women’s safety in the district and making sure that they utilize the app, Ms. Garg launched number of programmes like the Disha App Lucky Draw Contest, wherein they choose three lucky winners every day and invite them to the SPs office for a cup of tea, gifts along with a discussion about woman security.
“It was a great opportunity for me to get to know things from women who are facing issues in day-to-day life. This initiative went on for three months,” she added.
THE CONTEST
She also started Best Mahila Police of the Week programme wherein the police department organised a contest among the women police force in order to incentivize downloads. Women cops went door-to-door to ensured that maximum number of women download the app.
Further, she announced Disha Ambassadors scheme in which any civilian could become a Disha Ambassador by getting 50 people to register on the app. They were also invited to the SP office.
Along with this, she collaborated with the collectorate and other departments. The district had also organized one day intensive campaign, where they started at 6 in the morning and ended at night.
RESPONSE
On 1st January, the number of registrations reached 139824. After the mass registration, the number was 578783. “Within a period of four months we got this app installed in the phones of around 438959 and maximum number of registrations in a single day was 135982,” Ms. Garg informed.
She further shared that the campaign was much appreciated and people are very happy about the awareness of this app and that now everybody knows about it. The police staffs have been sensitized about how to quickly respond to the calls.
GOOD SAMARITAN APP
The app is saving many damsels in distress. In Nellore district a lady travelling in an auto in a desolated area was being harassed by the auto driver. She jumped out of the moving auto and pressed the SOS button. Police reached there in no time and arrested him.
In another case, a pregnant lady in labor pain couldn’t get the ambulance service. As she pressed the Disha SOS button, the police came and took her to the hospital. The umbilical cord was around the neck of the baby. “Any delay would have led to the death of the baby by suffocation. Thankfully, the baby was born healthy,” the officer said.
She had received the prestigious SKOCH Award. “It feels good when your effort, gets recognized. It motivated us to do more innovative things,” she concluded.
