• The Ministry of Women and Child Development has conceptualized several initiatives to promote safety of women in their living spaces, working spaces and the public spaces.

Initiatives:

Panic Button

• The idea of having a panic button on the mobile phone was conceived way back in 2015 and after a series of deliberations with the Ministry of Telecom, mobile phone manufacturers and mobile telephony service providers, the  Ministry of Telecom mandated a physical panic button on all mobile phones in the country.
• It was also noted that such a panic button must be backed by an emergency response mechanism through the local police when panic button message would alert the specified family members etc. of a woman in distress situation.
• This system was then conceptualized in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and state governments were asked to put in place a dedicated Emergency Response Centre through which the entire system will be operated.

The emergency response system can be triggered in the following manners: -

• On the smart phones, the power button (which is dedicated panic button) when pressed three times quickly.
• Dialing 112 from any phone.
• In case of feature phones, long press of the touch key 5 or 9.
• Using 112 India Mobile App which is available for free downloading.

?Safe City Implementation Monitoring (SCIM) portal under Safe City Project

• In order to provide safety for women in public spaces, the Government has identified eight cities for implementation of Safe City project. The 8 major cities which have been chosen are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai. Detailed projects for this have been prepared jointly by the municipal bodies and the local police authorities. The projects include creation on ground assets & resources and mindset safety of women.

Some of the key features of the safe city project include:

• Identification of sensitive hot spots in each city,
• Installation of CCTV surveillance covering the entire hot spot.
• Automated number plate reading machines to be deployed in extremely sensitive areas.
• Intensive patrolling in vulnerable areas beyond the identified hot spots.
• Improving street lighting and public toilet facilities for women.
• Others like setting up women help desks in police stations, augmentation of women support centres etc.

All the above measures would be coordinated through an Integrated Smart Control Room in the city. In order to facilitate States to monitor and manage the Safe City projects and avoid duplication on ground, an online Safe City Implementation Monitoring (SCIM) portal has been developed by MHA which will also be launched tomorrow. SCIM will facilitate online tracking of deployment of assets and infrastructure created under the Safe City projects. SCIM facilitates an evidence based online monitoring system. SCIM also creates a digital repository of assets, infrastructure and social outreach programs, as well as best practices achieved in each City.

DNA Analysis Facilities in States

• Dedicated DNA analysis facilities should be created in the forensic science laboratories on a mission mode.
• Timely testing of DNA samples from the crime scene is the quickest process of obtaining forensic evidence in cases of sexual assault on women.
• In the initial phase, dedicated DNA analysis facilities have been sanctioned for the forensic science laboratories located at Chennai, Madurai, Agra, Lucknow, Mumbai and Kolkata.
• The equipments to be provided under this initiative include refrigerated facility for samples, automated DNA extractor & sequencer, centrifuges, genetic analyzers etc