Parliamentary Panel Rejects Delhi Police's Himmat Plus App

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, led by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, has reviewed the Himmat Plus app developed by the Delhi Police in its attempt to tackle crime against women. The committee said that the app has failed in ensuring safety of women as very few people have downloaded it in a city of 19 million people.

"The fact that the App had only 30,821 registered users in a city with a population of almost 19 million reflects upon the comprehensive failure of this App to function as an SOS helpline for the women," the committee said in its report tabled in Parliament.

It further added that the app’s failure is due to the lack of sufficient marketing to reach its target audience and until that happens, its usership will not increase.

The committee recorded the submission of the Delhi Police regarding the status and number of users of Himmat App. And with that information, it came to the conclusion that the app has "failed to serve the purpose", which the Delhi Police had introduced with much funfare.

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"The committee finds that the complex registration process and non-availability of the App in Hindi have restricted the number of users of this App."

The panel has recommended to the Delhi Police to make the process of registration easier by doing away with it completely. It could also simplify it by asking only minimal details of the user.

"The committee finds that complex registration process and non-availability of the App in Hindi have restricted the number of users of this App."

To this, the Delhi Police responded saying the Himmat Plus app has already been redesigned in view of the committee's recommendations. It said that the latest version of Himmat app is user-friendly and comparatively easier than before.

"It contains only minimum details required. In order to increase the reach and use of the App by more women, Himmat is bilingual now and is available in Hindi as well as in English," the Delhi Police told the panel.

Delhi Police has updated the Himmat app twice already. The first review of Himmat app resulted in only about the 1,000 downloads of the app. Now the app comes with QR Code which can scan details of the driver of the auto of the areas in the capital that the Delhi Police has details of.

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