Any needy person going hungry in Jharkhand during the lockdown for the novel coronavirus pandemic can dial 100 and get hot, cooked food delivered for free from the nearest police station twice a day.
Following a directive from state director-general of police (DGP) M.V. Rao, police chiefs in all 24 districts have been instructed to provide food from the community kitchens, running since March 28 to help the poor during lockdown, directly from the nearest police station to the needy.
“It is our responsibility to be helpful and respectful to these people who are worst hit by the lockdown. I urge state police personnel and the general public to help them in whatever without diluting social distancing. Any needy person can come to the nearest police station or call ‘Dial 100’ to get a free meal. We will try our best to ensure no one goes hungry in the state,” DGP Rao had tweeted on Sunday.
The police’s Unified Dial-100 project establishment is a part of the State Emergency Response System (SERS), situated at Ranchi with branches in the districts.
It is meant to facilitate help for emergency calls relating to public safety by transferring the calls to the district command and control room.
Police field services are provided by 320 PCR (Police Control Room) vehicles, deployed directly under its control.
“All the district police heads have been informed about providing meals to the needy through the nearest thana (police station) to their location after getting information about their location from the police control room. In fact the control room alerts the nearest thana about the person’s location,” said additional DGP (operations) M.L. Meena, who is also the state police spokesperson.
The state police has so far distributed food among 11,08,934 persons (as on April 19) ever since the community kitchens were started across nearly 400 police stations in the 24 districts of the state on March 28, three days after the nationwide lockdown was clamped.
Dhanbad police continue to lead in terms of distribution of food. They have served 2,11,697 persons with meals twice a day. Following closely are East Singhbhum (Jamshedpur) police (1,48,800 persons served) while capital Ranchi is in the third position (1,42,691).
Raw material for the meals (comprising rice and dal) is given to the police stations by the respective district supply department while the cops arrange for cooking and distribution.
“In all our 35 police stations, we have arranged distribution of foods in parcels at locations inhabited by poor people as the OCs are well aware of the areas in which the poor stay,” said East Singhbhum senior superintendent of police (SSP) Anoop Birtharay.
“If we get a call from 100 we will distribute packed food to them too,” the SSP added.