Explainer: What is Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) or 112
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 4, 2019
In
February this year, the government launched the Emergency Response Support System
(ERSS) or the 112 number. But what is 112? When can this number be used? Here
is an explainer.
The recent incident involving thebrutal rape and murder of a female veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, has reignitedthe debate around emergency response and support system in India.
People on various platforms,including the Home Minister of Telangana state have quipped that the victim ought have calledthe emergency number of Police i.e. 100 and sought assistance. There are otheremergency numbers that are being floated in the media as emergency numbers.
In this context, we look at the EmergencyResponse Support System (ERSS) -112 which was launched by the Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) earlier in the year.
112 – Pan-India Single number system
launched
Over the years, there have beendifferent emergency numbers for various emergency services. Traditionally 100for Police, 101 for Fire Brigade and 102 for Ambulance services have beenassociated for emergencies.
Additionally, 108 is an emergencyresponse service for medical, police and fire emergencies operated in aPublic-Private Partnership model. This service is available across 15 statesand 2 Union territories.
Globally, various countries have asingle emergency number which can be dialled for emergencies. For Example, 911in USA. This helps in addressing the challenge of remembering multiple numbersfor different type of emergencies.
To overcome this handicap prevailingin India and to create awareness among the public, the Government of India hasenvisioned a single emergency number across India.
Accordingly, Government of India launched Emergency Response Support System(ERSS), with a single Emergency Number -112, to address different emergencieson 19 January, 2019.
The existing emergency numbers likePolice-100, Fire–101, Ambulance-108, Woman & Child Care-181 etc. are nowintegrated into the unified number.
Prior to the national wide launch,112 has been earlier introduced in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
ERSS is an initiative under
Nirbhaya Fund Scheme and overseen by MHA
The ERSS initiativewas launched under Nirbhaya Fund Scheme, which is anon-lapsable corpus fund constituted for safety and security of women by theGovernment of India in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya incident.
The scheme is be acollaborative effort of Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA), Ministry of Women andChild Development and Centre for Development (MWCD) & Advanced Computing(C-DAC).
The setting up anddeployment of ERSS across the states and Union Territories is undertaken byMHA. Meanwhile, C-DAC which has experience of working with various policedepartments in setting up distress response systems is entrusted with theresponsibility of providing all the technical support  to design, develop, customise and implement ERSSacross the country. MWCD being the nodal agency for all the schemes underNirbhaya Fund is also involved in this initiative.
Multiple modes of
contact under ERSS
ERSS is designed suchthat the emergency requests can be received through multiple modes, even thoughthe number is a single Pan-India number of 112.
The multiple modesthrough which the emergency signals can be received by ERSS include:
All the emergencysignals that are received via ERSS are handled by Public Safety Answering Point(PSAP) which is set up in the capital cities of all the States & UTs. It isan automated set up, which can receive the various distress signals receivedand would  direct them to the concernedagency like Police, Fire & Rescue etc.
The system has a trackof all the rescue and service vehicles of these agencies in a real-time map andcan reach out to the appropriate vehicle which can then reach out to those inemergency in a shorter span of time.
Emergency signal via mobile
phone
The ERSS is designedfor optimum utility of a mobile handset at the times of distress or emergency.
There are multipleways through which mobile device becomes handy under such situations.
Dialling 112 , would connect tothe ERSS system who would then direct to the relevant agency. The language ofcommunication is the local language of the respective state. In case the caller  does not speak the local language,English/Hindi are the available alternatives.
Incase calling up 112 is not feasible, an individual facing an emergencysituation can press the Power Button on the smart phone 3times, which would send out a signal. As highlighted earlier, PSAP is equippedto track the location of the sender of signal and respond to the emergency.
Thedistress signal is also available on non-smart phones i.e. feature phones. Bylong pressing either ‘5’ or ‘9’ on the key pad, a panic signal would be sent.
‘112India’ mobile application is part of ERSS initiative. This App is available both on Android as well as iOS. Through this App, a person indistress can reach out to the nearest and relevant emergency service. The Appsends out the user details , which includes Name, age, emergency contacts etc.along with the location information to PSAP/Control room.
Thefeatures of the App include:
Anotherfeature of ‘112 India’ mobile app is its ‘SHOUT’ feature. Under this,volunteers can register themselves and in case of any emergency, an alert issent to these local volunteers who are in vicinity. Once a volunteer markstheir consent to help, the volunteer details ( contact, photo ) etc. are sentto the person in emergency. This is especially helpful for women & childrenin any distress situation.
Theservices which can be availed through ERSS include the following.
Bihar, Jharkhand & Haryana among the states where ERSS needs to be
yet implemented
Asper the data available on www.ners.in , ERSS is not yetimplemented in all the states. Eight (8) states, which include – Haryana,Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya. Manipur, Sikkim and Odisha are yet toimplement this system. Meanwhile, efforts are on or the implementation inKarnataka and Tripura.
Non-genuine calls on 112 can lead to legal action
The112 facility is supposed to be used judicially. Continuous calls even mademistakenly  can lead to legal actionagainst the caller.  Since the number isfree as is the case with most of the emergency numbers, there is scope for non-genuinecalls being made which can interrupt the services and obstruct the facility forpeople who are in real need.
Fewof the instances where in non-genuine calls are made could include:
Anysuch calls can lead to strict legal and criminal action.
There is a need to create awareness about ‘112’
Theidea of having a single number pan India for all the emergencies is a step inthe right direction. With the multitude of emergency numbers available, it is achallenge even for the educated and informed citizens to remember of all thesenumbers. Hence 112 is definitely  progressive, especially during emergencies,where it could be a challenge to recall the emergency number.
Itis less than a year since the launch of 112. Hence, we do not yet have any comprehensivedata regarding the effectiveness of ERSS.
However,there is an imminent need to increase awareness about 112 number as well as the112-India app.