In the midst of this raging pandemic, police forces in many states are on the forefront of providing assistance up to their capacities- and at times even beyond. It’s with such a spirit of help and encouragement that the Uttarakhand has started a humanitarian initiative in the hilly state, called ‘Mission Housala’.
Under this mission, the police are helping out the people in distress by providing them medical facilities and other essentials at their doorsteps.
The idea has been conceptualized by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tehri, Ms. Tripti Bhatt, and has now been replicated in the entire state by the DGP Ashok Kumar. The move is becoming a hope for several people suffering during the second wave of Covid 19, as the state is in quite a bad situation in comparison to the first wave of the virus last year.
In an exclusive interview with Indian Masterminds, IPS officer Tripti Bhatt explained her idea behind launching this initiative and how the police force is going beyond duty to help the needy during such hard times.
THE VISION
Speaking about `Mission Housala’, Ms. Bhatt said “The major reason behind launching the initiative is the sheer scale of crisis as well as affected people in the state. Even before launching the operation, I was receiving tonnes of calls for arranging oxygen, beds, plasma, ventilators, etc. Therefore, I asked myself should only people who know me personally, benefit in such hard times? Rather, we should reach out to the people at large.”
“Even last year, when I was associated with the inter-state migration as Commandant SDRF (State Disaster Response Force), I was intensely working for arranging a safe travel for the people who were migrating back to Uttarakhand. During that time too, we saw the distress of migrants from close quarters. By keeping all of this in mind, and with the leadership of DGP Mr. Ashok Kumar, we launched ‘Mission Housala’ in the entire state,” she added.
As the issues of a hilly state of Uttarakhand are different from other states, the police force has started taking several innovative steps. Some of these include, for instance, free ambulance service in Devprayag and speedily setting up plasma banks all across the state.
ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY THE POLICE
While speaking to Indian Masterminds, DGP Ashok Kumar said “The police unit of Uttarakhand is operating as a coordinating agency under this mission where we are trying to connect people who want to help during this unprecedented time and people who are in distress and are in need of help on an urgent basis. For this, we have made every police station in the state as a nodal agency to identify categories of people (requiring different kinds of assistance) and connect them.”
From supplying oxygen cylinders to essential items, the police unit in Uttarakhand is going beyond their duty to come in aid of maximum people who are suffering during this devastating wave of Covid 19. The state police have issued an emergency number ‘112’ on which people can call and receive the required help from the police. They can also send a Whatsapp message on ‘94111-12780’.
Mr. Kumar said, “Since the initiative was launched, we have received around 4,365 calls from people all around the state, out of which 649 were received on Sunday. We also provided 116 oxygen cylinders to the distressed on Sunday and a total of 665 cylinders have been provided by the police under this initiative till now. We have been asking people to not hoard oxygen cylinders, but to provide these to the needy.”
“The main issue we are facing right now is related to the shortage of beds. However, we are trying to make maximum efforts in helping the needy. Up till now, we have helped 101 people with plasma, 5460 with medicines, 157 with free ambulance services, more than 5,000 people with ration, 289 with cremation. Apart from this, we have identified 417 senior citizens who are living alone in the state and have approached them for providing any help which is required,” he added.
Adding to the Uttarakhand unique set of problems is its topography, beautiful and mesmerizing it may beto the eyes of a casual tourist. Barring a few well-established and infrastructure-rich towns, scores of people live in the far-off regions, away from the motorable roads and often deep inside valleys and ridges. At times, their houses can be reached only after long treks. In such a scenario- which presents considerable difficulties even in normal times- the efforts by the state police to reach out to its people in their hour of need is indeed very commendable.
