Ugrasen Agarwal, a resident of Noida, is physically disabled. During the 21-day lockdown to fight the coronavirus, when his medicines ran out, he did not want to step out of his house. He called the Uttar Pradesh police emergency service No. 112 to seek help. A little while later, the medicines reached his home.

As people try to cope with the difficulties caused by the lockdown, the police in Uttar Pradesh are earning plaudits for helping them.

“We normally would get 600 to 700 calls every day, but now, since the lockdown, we have been getting 1,100 to 1,200 calls,” said Shiva Shukla, inspector in charge of emergency services 112. “About 400 calls are from people asking for food or other essential items. Our endeavor is to help each and every one. That is why the staff is working harder than ever. We have also increased our staff strength,” he said.

The Uttar Pradesh police are reaching out to the weaker sections of society, especially daily wage earners, to ensure they don’t go hungry. They are also taking care of the needs of many senior citizens living alone. In Lucknow, for instance, the police received a call from an 88-year-old person living alone saying his sugar level was low and that he needed something sweet to eat. Inspector Hazratganj Santosh Singh went to his home with rasgulla and fed him. The person said he had a son who lived in the United States.

The police are even cooking food and feeding the needy, besides delivering ration and medicines.

In Pilibhit, superintendent of police AK Dixit has launched a scheme called ‘Koi Bhooka Na Reh Jaye’ (‘No one goes hungry’) that strives to feed needy people and abandoned animals. The food for the scheme is cooked by police personnel themselves.

The police are also providing essential items to the needy by spending from their own pockets.

Shiva Shukla of Emergency Services 112 said, “The police are giving ration to the needy people through self-contribution. Also, wherever an institution is trying to provide food, we pitch in and take the food to people. No money is being charged from the needy anywhere. We know that they are suffering and we are trying to alleviate their problems.”’

This humane side of the UP police has not gone unnoticed. Many have appreciated the many gestures of the police on social media. Recently, many pictures of the police feeding labourers who were moving en masse from Delhi went viral on social media.

The UP Police are staying true to what they tweeted: “It is our duty to reach out to every needy.”