Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 26

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday launched the ‘Shakti’ app, which comes with a panic button, for women’s safety here. The app was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) of the Himachal Pradesh government.

The app would be available in Hindi and English languages and would not require internet connectivity, State Informatics Officer Ajay Singh Chahal said here, adding that shaking the device would trigger the app to send its location through GPS.

Once triggered, the app would automatically send a message to the nearest police control room and start recording audio and video after 20 seconds, Chahal said.

The Chief Minister also launched the ‘GUDDIYA’ helpline number 1515 and the ‘Hoshiyar Singh’ helpline number 1090, an official release said.

The app and the helpline were part of an initiative to fight crimes against women in the state, he said, adding that the image of the police had taken a beating due to the infamous Gudia rape and murder case.

The ‘Hoshiyar Singh’ helpline would be monitored by the CM’s office in a 24x7 basis, and the government would use information gathered on this helpline to come down heavily on the drug, forest and mining mafias, the chief minister said.

Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, Chief Secretary Vineet Chawdhary, Principal Secretary to CM Manisha Nanda and other senior civil and police officers were also present on the occasion. With PTI