Delhi: Shahdara police develops app for safety of senior citizens

Delhi: In the backdrop of the murder of Dr Yogendra Chandra Paul, a 63-year-old doctor from Jangpura, in May, Delhi Police have gone on the front foot to ensure that senior citizens remain safe in the national capital through a mobile application.

The application named Kutumb, and developed by police in Shahdara, has been made available to all the senior citizens residing in the district and is registered with the Delhi Police Headquarters.

Through the app, police personnel can take cognisance of how the said senior citizens are keeping and if they need any logistical and medical assistance.

Presently, there are 2,000 unique users of the application.

“The registered senior citizens have all been sent a link from the Station Head Officers (SHOs), beat and women constables. They can download the application on their mobile phones. The beat officers and constables visit the senior citizens daily and log the visit made,” said Surendra Choudhary, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Shahdara.

According to the guidelines of the app, the visiting police personnel have to click a picture, geotag it and then upload it on the application.

On the other hand, civilian users can use the application to send messages, file complaints, register domestic helps and send SOS notes to police personnel.

“It has made life a bit easier considering that the police personnel now visit daily; otherwise, we had only the choice of flagging a complaint against the police station with the DCP,” said Rajveer Singh, 75, a resident of Anand Vihar.

Presently, the application has been made available at all of the police stations in the district including Shahdara, Mansarovar Park, GTB Enclave, Seemapuri, Vivek Vihar, Anand Vihar, Farsh Bazaar, Gandhi Nagar, Geeta Colony and Krishna Nagar. It has been functioning since the beginning of the month.

The application is available only for Android phones, although the officials are slated to get it on Apple phones as well. Mobile users with keypad phones have not been included.