BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday inaugurated the upgraded version of police helpline Namma 100 (previously called Dial 100).
After the inauguration, he said, “Bengaluru police is equipped with technology. They need to curb crimes involving habitual offenders and the state government is committed to help in whatever way possible.”
Since there were too many helpline numbers, Namma 100 will be a one point contact to get through the city police. This is the first time in the country that one helpline number will cater to various issues.
In case of emergencies, police officials will be deputed to the spot within 15 minutes. This model is in place in metropolitan cities such as London (999) and New York (911) where the public can access many agencies using this one number.
The helpline has now been upgraded to 100 lines from 20. With the public safety answering point in place, a caller can dial 100 and will be directed to the authorities concerned depending on the complaint. For instance, a woman in distress can call 100 and will be directed either to the police or the women’s commission depending on the emergency of the situation. Earlier, they had to dial the women’s helpline number.
City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said, “In the first phase, we ensured that the upgradation of Namma 100 worked. In the second phase we will merge women, children and elders’ helplines.”
Also, with Namma 100 people can fix an appointment with the police officers concerned. For instance, if a person has an issue with passport verification, he or she can call 100 and fix an appointment with the police officer concerned. This saves the person the trouble of having to wait at a police station.
“In two or three weeks, Namma 100 will fix appointments with the local police on non-emergency issues such as passport verification,” Sood said.
City police receives around 2,500 distress calls every day, which amounts to at least two calls every minute. The response time for a call is 15 seconds now. The 100 lines will be manned by 300 outsourced employees working in three shifts. Sood is personally taking care of the technology-driven policing on a day-to-day basis, including the newly launched mobile applications such as Suraksha for the safety of women.
CM attends distress call
After inaugurating the helpline, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday attended to a distress call from a woman who had lost her passport. The woman called Namma 100 from Kalasipalya. Siddaramaiah assured the woman that her problem will be solved and asked her to file a complaint online. A police source said, “The woman did not know that it was the chief minister attending the call.”
‘We aren’t called Madrasis anymore’
Siddaramaiah said, “Many north Indian states identified people from Karnataka as ‘Madrasis’. But with Bengaluru making its name in the global list, we are now identified as Bengalureans and not Madrasis.”
Orderly system scrapped
Home Minister G Parameshwara, who attended the programme, said, “The orderly system has been abolished. In order to fill those vacancies, we will now appoint followers. I will hold talks with the police officers to execute the next steps.” Around 3,000 police personnel worked as orderlies across Karnataka.