A politician in Kerala has approached the State's human rights commission with a distinct plea - that it should direct all telecom companies in the country to do away with the COVID-19 warning message being played out before connecting calls.
In his complaint sent to the chairperson of the rights panel, John Daniel, one of the state secretaries of the Congress, pointed out that lengthy announcement hampers rescue operations and thus puts lives of people who need emergency care in danger.
Since the first week of March mobile phone subscribers in India have been forced to listen to the COVID-19 warning message when they make a call.
The pre-recorded message, locally known as 'caller tune', plays out before the regular phone ring and will last two to three minutes. It essentially tells the subscribers how to behave during the pandemic.
Daniel pointed out that telecom companies have not spared even the emergency callers. "If you call an ambulance from an accident site, you have to listen to this three-minute message. No one can afford to lose those crucial moments in an emergency situation," Daniel said.
He said senior citizens and women who live alone too bear the brunt of this inhumane act. “Many people died as they could not connect to hospital or relatives quickly,” he said.
The petition noted that Keralites are well aware of the precautions to be taken against COVID-19 pandemic and, hence, the telephone message has turned out to be redundant.
The message has proved to be a dampener for the movement-curtailed people in the State.
"People are reluctant to use their mobile phones these days. The message has taken sheen out of their lives. This is a major human rights violation and the panel should direct all telecom service providers to stop playing out the message," the plea noted.
