NAINITAL: In a first of its kind initiative, 300 girls in six districts of Uttarakhand will be given panic buttons, which can be worn as a bracelet, necklace or ring on January 24 on the occasion of National Girl Child Day.In the first phase, 50 girls each from Dehradun, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Pauri, Tehri and Haridwar districts will be given the devices which have been manufactured by a Bengaluru-based IT company.The device sends multiple messages when it is activated and alerts the women helpline and control room of state police within 30 seconds.Elaborating on the initiative, Rekha Arya, state minister of women and child welfare, said, “This is a major step towards providing safety and security to women. The device can save up to 12 numbers of people who the person thinks can be trusted in emergency situations. Apart from these 12 numbers, emergency numbers like ‘181’ and ‘100’ are pre-added. By pressing the button for 30 seconds in an emergency situation, all the numbers will be alerted. Cost of each device is Rs 3,000 but we are giving it free of cost.”Initially, Dehradun and Haridwar districts were selected for the project but keeping in mind the increasing number of crimes against women in the hill districts, four other districts were also included. Arya added that on the basis of the response in the first six months, the services will be extended to other districts.Swati Jaithwa, director of the Bengaluru-based firm that has built the devices, told TOI, “The device is so advanced that if people within a 30 metre radius have the android application ‘ResQButton’ downloaded on their cellphones, they will also receive the distress message. We request more and more people to download the application so that they can help others.”A woman from Nainital, who has been a victim of molestation said, “This is a good step towards ensuring women safety. The project should be implemented in a way that perpetrators get scared for life and never dare to think of violating any woman.”

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