The effectiveness of the ambitious projects of the police — iClik (Instant-Complaint Login Internet Kiosk) and Abhayam (safety 4 sure) a mobile application — appear to be far below the expectations.
According to a senior officer at the Central Command Centre that monitors both the projects, both iClik and Abhayam are being flooded with petty complaints, including civil and family disputes, rather than women-centric issues.
The projects were launched on January 20 by Deputy Chief Minister N. Chinarajappa in the presence of DGP J.V. Ramudu with the intention of safeguarding women and making them feel more secure.
But till date, the core issues have been sidestepped.
Abhayam is a mobile app designed to help citizens protect themselves in times of crisis by the click of a button.
The command station has received about 3,200 complaints in the last one year and, of them, 3,110 are test calls and 89 actionable calls.
Of the 89 complaints received between January 20 and December 20 this year, the maximum, 18, have been in the month of March. However, of the 89 calls or complaints, the police have registered FIRs only in the case of 23 and facts are being verified in respect of 10. In all, 56 complaints have been dropped for lack of concrete information and being petty in nature.
iClik, as the name suggests, can be used to file a complaint pertaining to any type of crime.
As far as iClik is considered, it is learnt that the police have received a total of 272 complaints since January 20. Of them, 125 are general complaints and family disputes. FIRs have been registered in the case of 126 complaints. The remaining complaints are bogus.
A senior police officer said that only 40 per cent of complaints pertained to women and a good number of them had been solved.
“Both the programmes are progressing well, but women need to come forward in a bigger way as they are launched for them,” says Police Commissioner Amit Garg.
“Awareness is another aspect that needs to be stepped up,” says DCP C.M. Trivikram Varma.
It is learnt that once major events such as Partnership Summit in January and IFR in February are over, the Commissionerate is planning to create an awareness campaign.
“Awareness plays an important role. It has worked well on issues like helmet rule and cyber crime. We are thinking on those terms so as to take both the programmes to the people concerned,” he said.