‘Panic button mandatory for all cellphones sold in India’ – Bid to avert sexual assault, make life better

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KUWAIT CITY, April 26: The government of India is planning to make ‘panic button’ mandatory for all mobile phone handsets sold in India from 2017 considering it an effective tool for self-protection, especially for women who are victims of sexual assaults in one of the most populous nation.

A reliable source in the Communications and IT Ministry of India said the government will not allow the sale of any device without a single key panic button that will be connected to the nearest body, what it called the re-dressal agency.

This follows a similar move for one emergency ‘112’ number for availing services of police, ambulance and the fire department. “Technology is solely meant to make human life better and what (is) better than using it for the security of women,” Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was quoted as saying. “I have taken a decision that from Jan 1, 2017, no cellphone can be sold without a provision for panic button, and from January 1, 2018, mobile sets should also have the Global Positioning System inbuilt,” the minister added.

However, the notification did not specify which agency would connect the number, but sources in the ministry said the decision will be taken soon. The Gazette of India notification said from Jan 1, 2017, no mobile phone handset manufacturing company shall sell in India: “The feature phones without the facility of panic button by pressing ‘numeric key — 5’ or ‘numeric key — 9’ to invoke emergency call.”

The notification defined a feature phone as one that can access the Internet and play music but lacks provisions of an operating system feature of a personal computer. Smart phone, on the other hand, has all features of a personal computer system.

In March this year, the government had proposed that people will have to just dial “112” for emergency help from police, ambulance or the fire department. The telecom watchdog had proposed that all existing emergency numbers — such as 100, 101, 102 and 108 – could be retained as secondary, which would then be rerouted to the single emergency number 112.

By Paul Francis X. Fernandes Arab Times Staff

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