UP 112 helpline attends to 68L emergency calls

Noida: Uttar Pradesh police’s helpline number 112 received over 68 lakh emergency calls in 2023, an average of over 18,800 daily or more than 780 every hour, according to official data. In 2023, the 112 helpline received 68,71,717 calls while the figures stood at 70,60,492 in 2022 and 66,87,137 in 2021, showed the data accessed by PTI. The maximum number of such calls were received from state capital Lucknow (3,18,877), followed by Gorakhpur (2,35,597), Prayagraj (2,28,048), Kanpur (2,00,591), Gautam Buddh Nagar (1,92,325), Ghaziabad (1,87,785), Agra (1,81,468), Aligarh (1,57,197), Jaunpur (1,53,043), and Varanasi (1,49,558), it showed.

Additional Director General of Police (UP 112) Neera Rawat said the large number of events is a result of wide scope of emergencies that the unit tends to address through police response vehicles (PRVs). UP police’s 112 was launched to subsume the roles of helpline numbers 100 (police), 101 (fire) and 102 (ambulance) during emergencies, providing citizens with one-stop solution. “UP-112 is very sensitive regarding the safety and dignity of the citizens of the state. After integration with various government institutions by making maximum use of technology, the scope of help to citizens by 112 has also increased.

As a result, PRV personnel have provided help/assistance to more than 68 lakh citizens in one year,” ADG Rawat told PTI. Additional Superintendent of Police (112) Mohini Pathak said there are a total of 4,800 PRVs, of which 3,200 are four-wheelers and 1,600 are two-wheelers.

“This includes 316 PRVs which have female personnel responding to emergencies,” Pathak said. Currently there are 31,200 personnel attached to the PRVs, excluding those on desk duties, the officer added.

Karuna Shankar Singh, the media cell in-charge at 112, said the department is also carrying out awareness campaigns time to time to apprise the general public of this emergency service and how to quickly avail help during distress.