‘Dial 100’ the national emergency response number is only as useful as the police personnel on the other end of the line. It is really a serious issue. ‘Dial 100’ is meant for public and if it is not answered in emergency, what more we can expect? There are reasons for which people can call the police for reporting misbehaving auto-rickshaw driver, errant driving, illegal parking on public roads and traffic jams, women harassment. Senior citizens can also call the cops in case they are facing any kind of trouble. On one hand where the police is making efforts to use online forums so that connectivity with citizens can be better; on the other hand the police emergency number – 100 is inaccessible to many citizens who are in distress or is kept on hold. There is no point in having the emergency number if we do not get immediate response. ‘100′, the most needed and most popularized as the go-to emergency police number seems to be of little help or to say no help at all, as in most cases, the line is inaccessible and fails to connect from either mobile phones or landline. The government must take this issue seriously and make the service more effective and efficient. The importance of an effective ‘first-response’ to emergencies cannot be overstated.
Vinod C. Dixit
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
