Blank, Crank, Prank... helplines turn helpless

The State women’s helpline 181, run by the Social Welfare Department, is flooded with prank calls on a daily basis, and more than 60 per cent of the total number of calls are not genuine. The workers at the helpline say that they undertake verification of the complaints in several such cases, but the information turns out to be fake in many cases.

The officials with the 181 helpline say that majority of the calls are either blank or pranks, followed by enquiries.

“More than 60 per cent of the calls that we receive are not genuine calls. Of the 500 calls received, only about 120-130 calls are genuinely related to enquiries on issues related to women. The helpline is contacted very rarely in times of emergency, and there is only about 10 per cent of calls made in case of emergency and distress that require redressal,” says an executive at the 181 helpline.

Officials say there are instances of calls being made to the helpline just to threaten others involved in a dispute with them.

In some cases, the calls are used as a medium to contact the helpline officials to interfere with household disputes, domestic violence and even adolescents. Meanwhile, a large portion of the calls is made by those who require psychological counselling.

One of the psychological counsellors with the 181 helpline explains that very often, the woman in distress is hesitant to talk to the helpline executives but would share the details when repeatedly enquired about her surroundings and circumstances under which she made the call. However, some of them are hoax calls and not genuine.

“In one such case, a female caller expressed concern that she was not feeling safe and was being attacked by her neighbour. We followed up, and after collecting the details of her surroundings and address, our staff successfully traced the address. However, to our surprise, we found that there was no residential building in that area. We contacted her again, but she did not reveal any further details and disconnected our calls.

“We try to gather more practical details to establish if the calls are genuine. There are examples of callers who might come up with made-up situations and make fake calls. If we think that the person requires mental health support, we redirect it to 104 helpline,” says the counsellor.

The officials with the Social Welfare Department say that the staff does verification at multiple levels to establish the authenticity of the calls made to the 181 women helpline to extend possible help to maximum genuine callers.

“The calls are recorded to track the communication. Also, to verify the facts as stated by the caller to our staff. Priority will be to emergency cases, which will be immediately attended to and redressed. Meanwhile, handling prank calls has become a part of our service. But the real challenge is to ensure that the genuine cases are attended to with priority,” says one of the Deputy Directors of the Social Welfare Department.

The Director of Social Welfare, D Rathna, says that a large number of calls are inquisitive.

“Many are unaware of the exact purpose of the helpline and would call us out of curiosity. Of the 2.5 lakh calls received, only about 30,000 calls, which is about 12-15 per cent of the total number, require redressal. The individuals facing mental health concerns and hesitant to reach out to experts also call us for support. People ask about other schemes by the department and we extend help to all of the callers. Even if it is not an emergency distress call, we share details on the caller’s issues of concern and alternative help or facilities that can be availed,” says the director.