Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav stressed that the country's first and world's biggest integrated modern Police Emergency Response System (PERS) coined 'Dial 100', will be a milestone in controlling crime and ensuring law and order which has been high on the government's agenda.
Soon after launching the logo and application for 'Dial 100' at the lok Bhawan (new CM Secretariat) on Wednesday morning, the CM said, "In Navratri, we launch new projects and on Dussehra we will burn Ravan and have sweets in Diwali."
His comment on Ravana created a buzz but Yadav refused to elaborate and maintained a stoic silence leaving journalists to do some guesswork.
It may be mentioned here Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to visit Aishbagh Ramlila ground in lucknow on Dusshera to witness 'Ravan Dahan' - a move which is being interpreted as purely political, especially in the wake of the coming Assembly polls.
After launching the 'UP100 App', Yadav said that this will be the official mobile application of Dial 100 project state-wide and is intended to assist citizens in emergencies.
In case of emergency, information like gender, age, location, language will assist the police respond faster and with ease. While registrating under the app, a citizen can give up to five numbers to be contacted during emergency. In case of emergency, an SMS will be sent to all registered persons' mobile phone. Similarly five locations like my home, my parents home, my daughters school, my bank etc could be registered which will automatically give the geographical coordinates of the location.
When a registered user calls 'UP100' in emergency, his/her registered locations will be displayed on the officer’s screen which will assist the team to quickly reach the spot.
later, lambasting the Opposition, the CM said that despite good law and order condition in UP, the rival parties have launched a tirade against the SP government.
"Now this new 'Dial 100' system will certainly instill faith among the public who are concerned with the law and order situation in the state. After its launch, the police would reach the crime scene within 15 minutes," Yadav said.
Commenting on the BJP, the CM said, "We gave laptops but the Opposition says we did not distribute tablets. But now they have given tablets (medicines) to the people by handing out hollow promises," he added.
Advisor to the Home department Venkat Changawali said that the project which will be launched in UP on November 2, would engage 3,204 four-wheelers and 1,600 two-wheelers equipped with modern gadgets.
"The UP government would spend around Rs 2,325.35 crores on the project and will have sub-centres at Agra, Ghaziabad, Jhansi and Varanasi. This would be the world's biggest integrated modern Police Emergency Response System (PERS) which would prove to be a milestone towards effficiently harnessing the law and order front," he said.
The PERS building will come up over a eightacre land tract near Shahid Path, will have a call centre having 4,800 police vehicles including 3,200 four-wheelers at its disposal across the state and attend to distress calls within 10 to 15 minutes.
Any person can contact the Dial 100 headquarters through phone, mobile, SMS or other ways around the clock and all calls would be recorded. A case will be closed only if the complainant is satisfied.
Besides the PERS building will have a centre for training personnel on attending calls and dealing with emergency situations. A total of 300 Communication Officers will receive distress calls from across the state and 200 dispatch officers will ensure police help. India's largest centralised 'Dial 100' police control call center will also extend help for medical emergencies.
The idea was mooted after a five-member UP government team visited San Fransisco, Austin, New York and other cites in the USA to get a first hand account of the operational `Dial-911’ there.