Ek Number Bharose Ka: A Helpline for Grievance Re-addressal For Non-emergency Police Intervention

Abstract

Ek number Bharose ka: a helpline for grievance re-dressal for non-emergency police intervention as the name suggests is Ek number or Number (No 1) is a police helpline conceived and created by Mr Ashutosh Pandey, the Inspector General of Police from Kanpur in the state of UP. It was launched on 16th Apr 2015. Ever since its launch the grievance re-dressal platform improved month by month and the satisfaction levels of the complainants kept moving in a upward curve with figures that supported it in their reports, The motivation for Mr Pandey to start this was because there was no forum in the police for re-dressals. Complaints would be made to senior officers and in their absence the complainants would wait for hours on end to be heard. Mr Pandey sought to solve this problem with prompt, money and time saving system for grievances of the public. The number 100 was available for emergencies but there was no number that the public could call for non-emergency incidences. This created a need for such a helpline. The case talks of several challenges the people involved in setting up of the helpline had to face. In 2016 the helpline recorded 81,783 complaints- a great achievement for Mr Pandey. The case ends with Mr Pandeys transfer to Allahabad another city in UP. Would the service continue in Mr Pandey’s absence and would he start other helplines in places where he was transferred and eventually make it an all India service?