The government is mulling over introducing a physical panic button in mobile phones for the safety of women and has asked brands to work out if the plan is feasible. The initiative was revealed by Maneka Gandhi, the Minister for Women and Child Development, while addressing a student parliament.
During her speech, she elaborated on the process of deciding what system to use in emergency situations. The government apparently received suggestions for a special ring or necklace which would be embedded with an SOS message sending function. Gandhi rejected such proposals as it would be inconvenient for women to always carry such accessories on them.
Additionally, it would be difficult to ensure these devices reach rural women, who might not be able to afford them. In view of these limitations, the administration decided an inbuilt panic button would be the best way forward. Such a unit would be simpler and faster to use in emergency situations than a crisis app, which could take too long to open.
As per the PTI report, the project is expected to be carried out within the coming months. According to the proposal, the button will be connected to GPS. When pressed, it sends an SMS with location data to a set of numbers. The initiative is part of various programs launched by the current government, such as ‘beti bachao’and ‘beti padhao’.
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Gandhi thinks the problem of women’s safety has not arisen out of a lack of schemes, but out of a lack of implementation. The administration is in the process of correcting that now. The three-day parliament she was speaking at has been organized by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP.