Bengaluru citizens join government as ‘Corona warriors’ to fight the pandemic

In the ongoing fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, enforcing the shutdown and ensuring those who step out maintain social distancing is quite a task for governmental agencies. Helping them out in this hour of need is a growing number of volunteers who have signed up as Corona warriors to distribute food from Indira Canteens, drawing circles in front of kirana stores to make sure customers stand far apart from each other and more.At 12,000 and counting, these warriors, under the aegis of the state labour department, are also being trained to handle any panic among the people that’s been induced by fake news on social media.
“The ‘Corona Warriors’ initiative is an opportunity for the people to come forward and help each other during these troubled times, when caregivers and civic authorities are struggling to handle the pandemic,” says Captain Manivannan, Secretary of Labour Department, adding that every ‘warrior’ is allotted a medical kit, masks and sanitisers, along with ID cards.
Volunteer Vipin Kuttadan says, “The focus is to get people to stay home and be safe. We also educate people in the lower socio-economic strata on the importance of hygiene and social distancing at this time. In urban circles, we are looking at dispelling myths propagated on social media, to ensure there is no panic among people.”
“The volunteers are coordinating with police stations across the city and their primary responsibility is to address issues in their immediate neighbourhood. Plans are afoot to roll out this programme across 198 wards in Bengaluru, followed by all the districts in Karnataka,” says actress-politician Malavika Avinash, President of Task Force Corona Warriors.