Soon, all cell phones will be equipped with a panic button to assist women in distress, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has said. Both existing and new cell phones will be covered under this plan, she said. Elaborating on measures taken by the government on women’s safety, the Minister for Women and Child Development told the Lok Sabha, “Every cell phone will have an in-built panic button. Now, all new cell phones will be made with panic buttons. But in case of all old cell phones, you can go to the person who owns the company or the dealer and they will adjust it for you. If a woman is in trouble, she can just press the button on the cell phone and she will immediately get help.”
Sources said if the button was pressed for more than a few seconds, it would call a pre-determined number, fed by the user earlier. The WCD and the telecom ministries have begun working on the proposal which is likely to be completed in the next six months.
The minister cited measures, including having special police volunteers in every village, women’s helplines in states and panic buttons in mobiles, being taken in this regard. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2015 of the World Economic Forum, India was ranked 108 out of 145 countries, the government said, adding it was an improvement from the 114th position in 2014.
