Now, dial ‘181’ for help in Punjab. For, a multi-mode police helpline for women, children, senior citizens and NRIs has been launched by the Punjab Government on Thursday to attend to their grievances in a time-bound manner.
launching the toll-free ‘181’ police helpline, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said no complaint would be disposed of till the complainant is satisfied with the response.
In addition, the NRI and Women Wing, integrated with the 181 helpline, have also been launched to monitor all complaints pertaining to the NRIs and the fair sex.
Sukhbir said that the toll-free helpline as well as the NRI and Women Wing was among the initiatives taken by the SAD-BJP Government to make the police force more efficient and accountable to the people.
“Any one could register a complaint, even anonymously, against delaying tactics of police, drug abuse, anti-social elements, lawlessness and corruption,” he added.
Sukhbir said that in order to ensure complete professionalism, the helpline work had been outsourced to a private company, Ziqitza, which would set up a 20-seater call centre with a dedicated clinical psychologist as counsellor to patiently listen to the aggrieved party and come out with a solution.
Round-the-clock helpline would have multiple modes of contact like phone, SMS, fax, email and web-portal, he said, adding that all calls would be recorded to ensure quality of service and discourage misuse of this helpline while at the same time complete confidentiality of the caller will be maintained.
State Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini said that dedicated help-desks for women, children, senior citizens and the NRIs along with 24X7 availability of professional counselors and psychologists were the highlights of this one-of-its-kind initiative.
“Another feature of this helpline is an assured time-bound response to be achieved through persistent follow-up by case coordinators. Independent Citizen Feedback through a non-police interface would also be taken,” he added.
The multiple modes of contact for this helpline include - Dial 181 from phone, SMS at 7696-181-181, fax no - 0172-6626181, e-mail at help@181pph.com and web portal — www.181pph.Com, stated a State official.
Meanwhile, the office of IGP (NRI Affairs) at Punjab Police Headquarters in Chandigarh’s Sector-9 has been shifted as an independent wing to SAS Nagar under an IG rank officer.
IGP NRI and Women Wing shall be assisted by DIG, NRI and Women Wing, and a team of SPs and DSPs. Eight existing NRI Police Stations at Jalandhar, Amritsar, ludhiana, ludhian Rural, Moga, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and SBS Nagar shall now work under the direct supervision of NRI and Women Wing.
The NRI Wing shall be the nodal authority in the state for monitoring inquiries or investigations involving NRIs, women, senior citizens and children. NRIs can contact the NRI Wing on 0172-2260042, 2260043 or at email — nri.Pbpolice@gmail.com, the official said.