Showing resolve to fulfill major promises made during assembly polls, the Himachal Pradesh government is banking on new helplines and apps to ensure women’s safety and curb mafias as drug, mining and forest.

A government spokesperson said that the state government is committed to ensuring safety and security of women. “Quite a few path-breaking initiatives have been taken by the government which would go a long way in providing a congenial environment for women of the state,” he said.

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‘Shakti Button App’ is one of the major initiatives of the government for protection of women from any kind of anti-social elements. “The App has been designed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) for the state police in both in Hindi and English languages,” he said, adding the app is easy to use and any woman in distress can press the red button of the app.

Within twenty seconds, the app would send the name, phone number, location etc of the woman/girl in trouble to the Police Control Room of the concerned district and the Central Control Room as well. Upon receiving the alert, the concerned police officials would be directed to provide immediate relief to the victim.

Not only this, the app can also send message even on hard shake of fall, if any, during scuffle and apart from police, two-three registered numbers of close relatives will be informed about the distress situation immediately.

The unique feature of this app is that it does not require any internet connectivity. The Shakti Button App can be downloaded from the Google Playstore or from himachal.nic.in on any android phone. This initiative would definitely help in protection of women and also control crime against women.

A yet another helpline named ‘Guddiya Helpline’ has also been launched to provide immediate assistance to women in case of any emergency. A toll-free number 1515 has been installed, which is functioning 24×7 to provide immediate assistance to women, the spokesperson said.

It also provides for automatic video and audio recording of the incident of assault on victim’s mobile handset, which can be later used as evidence against the offender.

Another ‘Hoshiyar Singh Help line’ has been launched and under this innovative scheme, any information regarding any illegal forest, drug or mining activities can be given on Toll free number 1090. This scheme is being monitored by the Chief Minister’s Office twenty-four hours a day and seven days in a week. The identity of the informer would be not be revealed and the concerned authorities would take immediate action against the defaulters.Besides these innovative initiatives, other emergency helpline number is 9459100100 on which women can contact through WhatsApp or by SMS in case of any emergency.