1.85 lakh Dial 112 for emergency help in 8 months in Bihar

The Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), which operates the 112 helpline service of the Bihar Police, has so far provided assistance to 1.85 million people under various categories in the last eight months.

According to data provided by the Bihar Police, about 55,000 calls are received on the emergency number daily, of which 1,000 to 1,500 are registered and action is taken against them. Earlier, the number of such calls was only 400. The state government launched the number (112) to provide a single point of contact for people seeking help from the police, fire and emergency services on July 6 last year.

Additional Director General (ADG) of Police (Headquarters) Jitendra Singh Gangwar said that of the 1.85 lakh complaints registered on Dial 112, a maximum of 44% of them are related to general law and order. “Furthermore, 16% of complaints are related to domestic violence, 15% to harassment, 7% to accidents, 4% to medical emergencies, 2% to fires, 3% to sounding the alarm and 9% of these are to other matters including robberies and land disputes. These numbers are from July 6, 2022, to February 21, 2023,” he said.

He added: “It was designed to allow citizens to send voice calls, SMS, emails, panic SOS requests and web requests in an emergency. Initially, the police, fire and medical services were managed under this single telephone number 112. Later, other emergency services are planned to be connected."

In the first phase, the state procured 400 emergency vehicles, including 100 for Patna district, while 15 to 25 for each district. These vehicles are equipped with mobile data terminals and a GPS navigation system.

During the ongoing Bihar Police Day, police officers have been asked to inform the public about the integrated helpline number 112 (for registering complaints of crime, accident, arson, medical emergency). As part of this, 500 women's help desks are also functioning at various police stations across the state, where women can approach without hesitation and get help from the help desk.