CM launches pink patrols, app for citizens in distress

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flagged off 51 pink Hoysala patrol vehicles and launched a women’s safety app on Monday. “The pink Hoysalas will add to the existing 221 hi-tech Ertiga Hoysalas,” Siddaramaiah said.

That takes the total of four-wheeler patrol vehicles in the city to 272. Ministers G Parameshwara, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Roshan Baig were also present at the event at Vidhana Soudha.

“Pink Hoysalas will have at least one woman police personnel on board... but it does not mean only Pink Hoysalas will rush to women in distress,” Praveen Sood, City Police Commissioner, said at the launch. The priorities assigned to Pink Hoysalas are crimes against women, children, and elderly citizen, he said.

Police have identified ‘hot spots’ for exclusive patrols by pink Hoysalas.Schools, colleges, shrines, malls, shopping complexes, markets, garment factories, and railway and bus stations come under their surveillance.

Pink Hoysalas will also patrol tech and biotech parks and residential areas where women stay as paying guests. The initiative keeps in mind the safety of women working in shifts in the hospitality and airline industries, and other professions that call for police protection.

6,000 downloads

Not everybody can dial 100 in an emergency. The Suraksha app is an option for citizens in distress, Sood said. “Even before its launch, the app has been downloaded by at least 6,000 Bengalureans, and we expect at least 50,000 citizens to download the app in the near future," he said.

Thirty participants in a naming contest came up with the name of Suraksha. They have won IPL tickets for their participation, Sood said.

Some on Twitter wondered why the police couldn’t have chosen a name based on the Kannada word to seek help: ‘Kaapaadu.’ @JS_Prashant tagged the chief minister, the police and the Kannada Development Authority, asking if the app was available in Kannada. The interface on Suraksha is only in English.