Hundred voices

It is 10 am on a Tuesday and constable Anupriya Mathur (name changed) has been sitting idle for the past ten minutes at her channel,staring at her computer screen with her headset on.

Written by Debesh Banerjee

April 24, 2011 03:50 AM IST

4 min read

From fielding distress calls to crank calls,100 police helpline operators,a majority of whom are women,are always hard at work

It is 10 am on a Tuesday and constable Anupriya Mathur (name changed) has been sitting idle for the past ten minutes at her channel,staring at her computer screen with her headset on. What appears to be an ordinary day at the fifth floor of the Police Headquarters Police Control Room (PCR) office in New Delhi was anything but quiet and ordinary on the day of the India vs Sri Lanka final of the World Cup earlier this month. We were flooded with calls post-Indias victory at the World Cup. People were complaining about how the roads were blocked and how revellers were dancing on the streets, remembers Mathur,24,who is a 100 police helpline operator with the Delhi Police.

Being the first stage of interface between the police and the public,Mathur realises the crucial nature of her job and doesnt let her guard down at any time. Mathur has been a telephone operator with the force for two years and is well-acquainted with all kinds of callers. Many times we receive calls from irritated people who become rude and offensive when their queries are not answered immediately. At times we are showered with gratitude for offering timely response to their queries, she says.

The PCR Unit of the Delhi Police is a crucial link in the crime fighting machinery of the police,which ensures that complaints are addressed speedily. There are more than 60 telephone operators with the PCR Unit,who work on three rotational shifts. The majority are women constables within the age group of 21-35women are preferred for the job because they have a soothing voice.

The operators have to follow certain rules no mobile phones,no talking with each other while on duty. With 45 operators on the floor at any moment,the response time is constant. Once a call is made to 100,the operator simultaneously starts typing in necessary details of the caller,including the nature of the call and the location they are calling from. It is then dispatched to the Communication Wing of the Delhi Police in the same building,which coordinates with a PCR van nearest to the spot and then flashes a radio message on their wireless set. All this is coordinated within a matter of minutes,depending on the nature of the call serious or mild.

On average,there are 45,000 calls every day,with 80 per cent of them blank. The bulk of the calls are received during weekends and festivals. On Holi,they received many drunk callers during the afternoon,seeking help. We did not get to celebrate Holi but the ridiculous nature of calls made up for the lost fun, smiles Mathur. A small percentage of calls are obscene. We track these people and they are arrested by the PCR teams. At times we simply hang up when we see the caller is fooling around, says constable Geetika Sharma (name changed) another operator with the force for four years. Twenty-one-year old Sharma does not find anything uncomfortable about her job and prefers it for the flexible work timings. There is an additional sense of responsibility too since you are constantly assisting someone, adds Sharma,who is pursuing her post-graduation along side and lives with her parents.

After her shift,she returns home to study for her MA History syllabus. All the operators are also being given English lessons.

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We mostly receive callers in Hindi,but if required we can speak in English too, says Mathur,who joined the force after her graduation in B.Com Honours from Delhi University for the thrill of wearing a uniform. If not this,I would have probably landed a job in the private sector, she says.