Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday launched the 'Abhayam' app designed for safe and secure travel for women commuting by autos and taxis.
The app aims at providing emergency help to those in distress and instills confidence among women, especially those traveling alone.
Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said his government was taking several steps towards women empowerment, including their safety and security.
“The app is brought not because of lack of trust in auto, taxi drivers, but to build confidence among women passengers of safe travel in those vehicles. Like Ola, Uber, even our local autos and taxis offer a much safer transport, and women need not fear to board these vehicles,” Reddy said.
The chief minister said the first Internet of Things (IoT)-based women safety project aims to bring one lakh autos under the Abhayam initiative.
Five thousand vehicles will be equipped with tracking and IoT devices by February 1; 50,000 vehicles by July 1 and reach one lakh target by November 2021.
IoT devices were installed in 1,000 autos in Visakhapatnam as a pilot project and will be introduced soon in Vijayawada and Tirupati.
How it works
Women travelling by autos and taxis need to install the Abhayam application on their mobile. The QR code affixed on the vehicle should be scanned before boarding the vehicle. With this, the driver's photo and vehicle details will load on the mobile.
If a woman encounters any difficulty during her journey, she can send the relevant vehicle number to the police from the mobile app and the whereabouts of the vehicle are tracked through the GPS.
Passengers who do not have a smartphone can press the panic button on the IoT device fixed to the vehicle and the information is sent to the Command Control Centre. This would make the vehicle stop immediately and alert the nearest police station.
The AP police department had earlier brought the Disha app, for women safety and Abhayam is developed by the transport department on the same lines.