National Emergency Response System: Only Gujarat shows interest in Modi government's Nirbhaya scheme

NEW DELHI: The Centre’s efforts to have a national emergency response system ( NERS) nationwide under the ‘Nirbhaya’ scheme have found only one taker. Gujarat is the only state which has so far signed a memorandum of understanding with the Centre, showing its eagerness to be part of the project from the first phase, said officials.

In August this year, the Union home ministry had written to state governments and union territories, proposing to sign memoranda of understanding with them for maintaining standards and quality of NERS. Envisaged on the lines of the 911 emergency helpline in the US, NERS aims to integrate services, including police, fire and ambulance. It will also be integrated with the road transport ministry that involves setting up an emergency button on buses, officials claimed.

Telangana and Arunachal Pradesh too have shown interest in the scheme.

However, they are yet to ink a pact with the Centre. “We are hopeful that other states and UTs will soon respond to our requests. Some of the southern states already have similar emergency response system. We will try to integrate them to Nirbhaya plan,” a senior government official said.