Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann launches 'Chatbot' for Children & Women Safety 

MOHALI: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday (March 28) launched a 'chatbot' helpline number to search for missing children. He released this helpline number while inaugurating a stakeholder workshop to help women and children together. The event was organized at Indian School of Business (IBS), Mohali.

CM Mann said that in case of finding a missing child, help can be sought from the police by giving information on the chatbot helpline number (95177-95178). Cases of infanticide and beatings are high in the state. He spoke about the ongoing efforts to bridge the gap between the police and the public. The CM also mentioned an incident in his village where a child was shot dead over property. He said that children and women are considered soft targets. There are gangs working in the society who abduct children and make them disabled to beg. He said that there are many cases of missing children in Faridkot. The digitization of the police will ease the work.Police can easily monitor with CCTV cameras. 

He directed the police to act immediately on complaints received on the chatbot app. He said that there is no need to go to the police station to register a complaint. 

CM Mann said that times have changed now and girls have progressed in education. He spoke of reducing domestic violence against economically strong girls. He said that when he was a Member of Parliament, 98 percent of the cases of domestic disputes came to the fore. In these cases, unemployed women used to fear for their livelihood after being evicted from their homes. Talking about increasing the number of women police stations in Punjab, the CM said that in Five districts of Punjab, SSP are women and seven women are DCs. 

Women and Child Development Minister Baljit Kaur said that the disappearance of children is not natural, rather it is a part of the semi-developed thinking of the society. She described the process of child adoption as very complicated. She said that in the year 2022, 466 such children who could not go to school due to their parent's financial condition, were sent to schools under the 'Vidya Prakash School Return Initiative'.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the community policing project under the banner of Sanjh has been going on since 2011. 28 District Sanjh Centers, 114 Sub Divisional Sanjh Centers and 382 Police Station Centers are functioning in the state. He talked about providing 24 lakh services to the people in the year 2022. In this, 11 lakh passport verification including 13 lakh other facilities were provided in a citizen-friendly environment.

The DGP said that in addition to 10 women police stations, women's desks are also operating in the state. 2.58 lakh complaints related to crime against women have been disposed of. He gave information about the facilities being run for women and children including helpline number-181.