The erstwhile Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s pet project helpline 181, for women in distress, is to be privatised. After the successful re-launch of its anti-graft helpline 1031, there are indications that the Kejriwal administration may issue a tender inviting NGOs to take charge of the 181 operations. The 181 helpline was launched by then CM Sheila Dikshit after the Nirbhaya gangrape in December 2012. At present, the helpline is being run by a team of 16 members with expertise in handling cases of violence against women. The 181 team comes from diverse backgrounds and almost all of its members are themselves survivors of violence. A senior official, on condition of anonymity, said that the helpline has been handling confidential and critical calls.
“If the helpline is handed over to any private entity, there is a risk that women may face risks to their lives. The helpline should be under direct control of the Government.” The helpline has been facing one problem after another ever since its administrative control was handed over from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to the administration’s Women & Child Development (WCD) Department. “Not only are the salaries of the 181 getting delayed every month, the staff has also been facing other problems in the day-to-day functioning,” a senior officer told The Pioneer.
An insider said that a team of senior officials, including some IT personnel, had recently carried out an inspection of the helpline to see how it was responding to calls it had been receiving from women in distress. The source said that the team had found that the data made available by 181 did not match with the one tabulated by IT personnel. The matter has come to such a pass that a senior WCD official has even issued written instructions to 181 that it should not share any information with the media without prior permission from authorities concerned.
WCD is said to have prepared a tender notification inviting professional bodies, including NGOs, to take charge of the helpline. The proposed tender document is reportedly awaiting the Finance Ministry’s clearance. But several women rights activists have opposed the Government move to hand over the 181 helpline to any private entity as it was handing personal and critical information of victims.
Statistics show that ever since the 16-member team was handed over the charge of 181, it had received as many as 9,02,300 calls till February 10 this year. Of these, the helpline had fielded as many as 6,52,856 calls. The data accessed by The Pioneer showed that there were 2,243 calls related to abductions, 8,251 to child sexual abuse, 3,530 to dangerous attacks, 45,460 to domestic violence, 3,539 to dowry deaths, 65,671 to obscene calls and 1,834 to illegal confinements.