Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Having embarrassed Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit after a launch marred by snags, women helpline ‘181’ finally started working as a ‘hello’ in human voice gave way to long beep sound on the other end of the phone.
The much awaited helpline number ‘181’ that was launched yesterday turned out to be a disappointing affair as the snag-hit service couldn’t connect callers to the other side.
But the helpline seems to be working now as a reporter tried the number live on CNN-IBN and was answered with a ‘hello’ though the response took a time much longer than expected.
In wake of the increasing outrage and protests against the heinous act of Dec 16 gang-rape, a round-the-clock women helpline was launched by Delhi government as one of the measures to abate crimes against women.
Senior Delhi Government officials said the helpline could not be made functional yesterday due to some glitches in the MTNL network.
They said the helpline, which will operate from the Chief Minister's office in Delhi Secretariat, can be contacted from landlines as well as mobile phones. The helpline will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city.
The Telecom Ministry had last week released the three-digit number following a request by Dikshit. It will be the first three-digit number to have been allotted by the Ministry in two years.
The Ministry had earlier allotted '167' for the helpline but upon request for a number that would be easier to remember, the number was changed to '181'.
First Published: Tuesday, January 01, 2013, 13:59