Within hours of announcing 167 as women helpline number, the Telecom Ministry today changed
it to 181 saying the new three-digit number was easier to remember.
Amidst nationwide uproar over brutal gang-rape of a 23-year old paramedic student, the Telecom Ministry for the first time in two years released a three-digit number, 167, for women helpline.
However, "upon request for a number that would be easier to recollect", the number has been changed to 181, a statement from the Department of Telecom said.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had requested Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to allot a three-digit phone number for helping women in distress.
"Though DoT has limited resource in respect of three-digit numbers, yet within two hours of the request, a
three-digit number has been allotted for Chief Ministers helpline," the statement said.
This is the first three-digit number to have been allotted in two years.Protests across the country are being seen demanding speedy justice to the accused in the Delhi gangrape case, where a 23-year-old para-medical student from Dehradun was alleged raped on Sunday night in a moving bus here.