NAINITAL: In one of its kind initiative in the country, 300 girls from six districts of Uttarakhand will be distributed panic buttons, which can be worn as bracelet, necklace and rings 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.The device has been manufactured by a Bengaluru-based IT company and sends messages to police when pressed. It can also alert women helpline and control room of state police within 30 seconds. The button will be connected to an android application in the user's phone. The device and mobile application will form an integrated system.Rekha Arya, state minister of women and child Welfare, said, “This is an important step towards providing safety and security to women. The device can save up to 12 contact numbers who the person thinks can be trusted for emergency situations. Apart from these 12 numbers, emergency numbers- 181 and 100 will be added with emails. 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 response in the first six months, the services will be extended to other districts.Aarti Balodi, state nodal officer of women and child welfare, told TOI, “The service entails providing panic buttons, a device manufactured by a Bengaluru-based IT company which if pressed in situation of distress will alert police control rooms.”Swati Jaithwa, director of the organisation that has built the devices, told TOI, “The device is so advanced that if people within 30 metres of 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.”She added that the candidates were selected by district programme officers based on threat of harassment and other related factors.A woman from Nainital, who has been victim of molestation said, “The project should be implemented in a way that perpetrators get scared for life and never dare to think of violating any woman. This is a good step towards ensuring women safety.”

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