Help is just a call away: When men in khaki turn angels for Sr citizens

NEW DELHI: Last week a call from California, USA, kept sub-inspector Neeraj Kumar on his toes. A woman had phoned the station house officer of Prashant Vihar police station to say that her 82-year-old father, a resident of Rohini Sector 15, was in danger as his oxygen saturation level was continuously dropping. Without wasting time, Kumar rushed to arrange an oxygen cylinder for the senior citizen.
When the old man’s condition worsened, Kumar arranged for an ambulance to ferry him to hospital, not forgetting to reserve a hospital bed in advance. Over the next few days, the police officer not only took care of the octogenarian but also kept his daughter informed over phone about the situation.
Delhi Police, in its initiative to help senior citizens during the pandemic, has almost religiously interacted with such people, in many cases providing them with protective equipment such as face masks, hand sanitisers, gloves, etc. In some cases, some elderly citizens have also been given assistance in arranging for oxygen cylinders, in withdrawing cash from ATMs, provision of transport means to visit hospitals or vaccination centres and in securing admissions in hospitals.
In another similar incident, the Bharat Nagar police station received information on April 20 around 3pm that Usha Rani, a 71-year-old woman who had tested positive for Covid and lived alone, needed to be admitted to a hospital. The SHO promptly sent some people to help her. Constable Harkesh arranged a vehicle for the woman and took her to Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital in the neighbourhood. “She was admitted to the hospital and her son who lives in Singapore was also informed,” said a senior police officer.
The very next day, the personnel on duty at Alipur police station got engaged in a similar act of assistance. Constable Babu Lal helped 75-year-old Ratan Lal, a resident of Alipur, by taking him to a vaccination centre because the old man lived by himself. The constable not only arranged for a vehicle, but even accompanied Lal to Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in Rohini, where the elderly man was administered the vaccine. The constable then accompanied the septuagenarian home.
Senior police officers said that during the pandemic, the northern range has put in the best possible efforts among the police ranges in contacting senior citizens telephonically or through virtual meetings to address their grievances and make sure their needs are met. According to Delhi Police data, in the northern range alone, where as many as 6,885 senior citizens live, at least 9,000 phone calls have been made to the elderly population to enquire about their well-being and to redress any grievances they might have.