Odisha CM launches App for safety of Twin City women

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, May 15:

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched ‘Mo Saathi’, a mobile phone based application that seeks to address the safety concerns of women in distress in the Twin City of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack at the headquarters of the Commissionerate here.

Speaking to the gathering consisting mostly of women, the Chief Minister said, “I would like to express my happiness about the various innovative measures being taken by the Commissionerate police to enhance the security of women in distress in the Twin City. I am sure the mobile application launched today would give the women a greater sense of security.”

“Our government is dedicated to taking various steps towards improving the living and working conditions of women and ensuring their dignity, respect and honour is maintained. The Mahila Sishu desks in the police stations and the Domestic Violence Act are some of the measures taken by us in that direction,” Patnaik said.

“Crimes against women have been our major concern. In this regard, I congratulate the efforts of the officials of the Commissionerate police in coming up with this mobile application in the larger interest of women. I am hopeful police officers will provide proper justice to women in distress through this application,” he added.

Twin city Commissioner of Police Dr RP Sharma said the launch of mobile application will allow women in distress to send a call or a message to the Police Control Room and three of their relatives in case of an emergency.

“The mobile app which was launched today will provide safety to employed women in distress, who have Android based smartphones,” the commissioner said.

After downloading the app from Google Playstore, a new user has to register with the Commissionerate Police website, after downloading a form, by sharing their name, mobile number, Email ID, present address and that of a minimum of three relatives.

Once the user registers, she/he will get an SMS on her mobile number given at the time of registration with a download link and registration key. The user has to enter this key in the registration window in the application. This is a one-time process, the commissioner explained.

“In case of an emergency, the user can send an alert by pressing the power button/soft button five times. As soon as the button is pressed, the camera of the phone will automatically start and capture a 30-second audio and video recording on the phone which will be transmitted to the Police Control Room. At the same time, the GPS of the phone will be automatically activated giving the exact location of the victim and the concerned officers on duty will send PCR to the spot to save the woman in distress,” said Dr Sharma.

An SMS alert will also be sent to three relatives of the user in distress.

“All the details of the victim, including her location, time will be there in the SMS which will also be transmitted simultaneously by the Police Control Room to the PCR vans in the area and the local police station for immediate action. Generating false SOS alerts/ alarms, intentionally/ unintentionally, will lead to cancellation of the registration after three false SOS alerts,” he said.

Lipsa Mishra, a lecturer of BJB Autonomous College, said’ “It is a welcome step by the Commissionerate police and would help women like us and provide safety to us while returning from the college or the work place.”

More awareness and orientation programmes by the commissionerate police is the need of the hour to inform women about the when and how to use of the application. Importantly, the time gap between the woman at distress and safety provided by the police personnel must be minimized to make best use of the application,” she added.