Three questions. Do you remember all your passwords? For your net banking transactions, to alter your profile, for your debit and credit cards, your email ID s, mobile PIN...the list can be quite endless. Now,do you remember all the helplines that exist? Apart from 100 for the Police, you may still be confused between 101 and 102 for Fire & Ambulance, or whether you need to dial 108 for a medical emergency, or individual hospital hotlines, not to speak of helplines for Senior Citizens, Child Abuse and all the myriad situations we may find ourselves in.
Passwords are like helplines. There are too many. And most of us cannot remember them all. I know of folks who cannot remember their own mobile numbers, not to mention that of their wives. Forgetting your wedding anniversary is no longer a sin! So tell me, what's a more urgent need in our country – the much hyped Aadhaar or a nationwide toll free emergency number like 911 that even a child in distress can dial and get help? No matter what the emergency is – medical, security threat, fire or natural disaster, it's about time we had a common number that delivers express relief.
I know they are just TV serials, but when I watch Chicago Fire or Chicago Med, the alacrity and competence with which the emergency response teams function makes me wonder why we cannot have something just as efficient in India. That such missions are not just reel was proved when an airplane crashed into the Hudson River many years ago and the heroic rescue of every single passenger that took place for the world to see. And learn from. We have no dearth of bravehearts in our country – from Police Commandos to Firemen to our National Disaster Response Force. I have seen even District Collectors wading through neck deep water during the tsunami to save lives. We just need a coordinated effort to put together a crack team that can respond to any SOS call from a citizen in the most remote corner of the country in seconds or minutes.
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