New Delhi: Amidst the pressure of admission and accommodation for the children who travel to big cities for pursuing higher education, parents undergo an extra tension in terms of their safety and security.
Colleges and universities are not spared from the unfortunate incidents and are in fact considered unsafe by students who attend them, according to studies done by NGO’s such as Jagori that focuses on women’s empowerment.
India already has about 11 million students in the higher education system, which is just 11 percent of the total population of age group 17 to 23, according to a report by consulting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The government hopes to increase this to at least 21percent by 2017, so let’s assume that capacity, resources and infrastructure need to grow at a similar pace so as not to put additional strain on an already tight system, says Manoj Chandra, the CEO and spokesperson of One Touch Response.
According to Chandra, with presumably more children coming to urban areas such as Delhi NCR for their higher education, a sincere effort also needs to be made so that they feel secure about their personal safety.
Providing a service that safeguards students’ safety is not rocket science but it requires in today’s age of connectedness, a strong technology, backed by a trustworthy and capable service.
There are private enterprises that have risen to the occasion and are attempting to fill the gap that in developed nations is provided for the most part by government.
Because of the huge infiltration of mobile phones there are a lot of apps that act as an alerting mechanism to family members when ones security and safety are under threat.
Start with the basics- ease of reach through an app or a help line, an embedded GPS that would help determine the victim’s location, a command and control center that is able to guide callers until live help in the form of a trained responders team reaches, a partnership with government authorities, police, hospitals that are able to help in such situations, is a good place to start for college administration departments evaluating this much needed service in cities such as Delhi.
One such effective app is One Touch Response.
“From guarding during late night returns after studies or festivals and safe guarding female students to providing peace of mind to families and coming to the rescue in hazardous situations, One Touch Response has seen it all in a span of about three years since our inception,” continued Chandra.
“Universities are therefore are interested in our services,” he added. (ANI)