Gals SMS '6070' when in trouble!!

New Delhi, Oct 15: A lot said but little done for the security of women in the national capital. But here comes some good news for the gals working in call centres.

ValueFirst, a mobile virtual network operator for data services, will launch a paid service for women working in BPOs in a month's time. Also, the company has announced the launch of an SMS helpline 6070 for all working women in Gurgaon, to be followed by Delhi by the next month.

Mr Nimesh Bhandari, Vice President, ValueFirst, says, ''About 60 per cent of the employees in call centres are women and they work during the evening and night shifts.'' The SMS helpline will be operational within the next 15 days and will be free of cost. ''We have got the approval from the Delhi and Gurgaon police and plan to work in a phased manner beginning with Gurgaon,'' he says.

However, he adds, the BPO-specific SMS helpline will have more features than the current one. ''We will launch it as and when the charges and other details are worked out.'' In case of an emergency, using this helpline, any employee can send in the SMS to 6070, which would be automatically forwarded to the Gurgaon police department. The user has to just type the three letter abbreviation of the city (SMS help GNG ).

Unlike other helplines, the message will also be forwarded to the user's employer and the application platform of ValueFirst.

With the help of a mapping system the location of the sender will be identified and immediate action will be taken.

National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Girija Vyas announced the launch of the security helpline.

UNI