Dial 112 in India for National Emergency – Single Number for Help during Emergency

An all-in-one emergency number that is going to change the lives in India is ‘112’. So far we have seen various emergency numbers in India like 100 for police, 101 for fire services, 102 for ambulance and 108 for disaster management. Now, the TRAI has recommended Inter-Ministerial Panel Telecom Commission for approval of a single number for all emergency services.

In return, telecom commission has approved the TRAI’s proposal of using 112 as a single emergency number across India. So far, US are using 911 as national emergency number whereas UK 999, New Zealand 111 and Australia 000. And now India is going to implement 112 as an emergency number. This will eventually phase out the previous emergency numbers that are used in India and within a year 112 is going to be the one and only emergency contact in the country.

The idea of using single emergency number in India is very well rolled out and that could solve all the issues of the people who are facing trouble with present services. There exist few reasons for choosing especially 112 as the emergency number because 111/222 may be dialed accidentally by the kids. Also 100 was not chosen because women and children might feel difficulty in dialing the number as it is now associated with the police emergency.

The people in India started applauding the idea but as of now it only known to few people. It could take almost a year to get awareness about the number all across India. After implementing this, the officials should also look after for the prank calls as with strict regulations 112 could be very useful for the people in India.

As of now, the telecom commission has approved the TRAI’s recommendation and now it has to get drafted by the telecom department which then need the approval of telecom’s minister. So, it could take few months to roll out and in the mean-time, officials should look-out for strategies to bring awareness about the 112 number among people.