SSB Ranikhet Chief Sanjay Kumar becomes a leading help for Covid affected villagers in Ranikhet
Ujjawala Nayudu
New Delhi, June 7
Living in foothills and with abysmal infrastructure, the villagers in Ranikhet and neighbouring districts found help in three Covid Care Centres started by Sahastra Seema Bal IGP Sanjay Kumar who took up this initiative to provide basic healthcare to the villagers.
A small town with hardly population of around 20,000 villagers, Ranikhet is a hill station in Almora district of Uttarakhand, also known as a cantonment town, where Naga Regiment and Kumaon Regiment of the Indian Army are also present.
IPS officer, Sanjay Kumar, IGP SSB Ranikhet Frontier started three Covid care centers in the town that has been facilitating both SSB personnel and civilians.
Speaking exclusively to BW Policeworld, Ranikhet Frontier Chief, Sanjay Kumar said “Last year, I as posted in Patna for SSB where I observed that the migrants returning to UP, Bihar and Jharkhand required even basics of food, water and medicines. My batchmate in Odisha, Arun Bothra started India Cares to aide these migrants where I helped him. Few months back, when I got posted in Ranikhet I observed that the villagers here are cut off from basic healthcare infrastructure and decided to set up Covid Care Centres”.
The Covid Care Centres are functional are Ranikhet, Narayananagar of Pittorgarh and Pancheshwar in Champavat region of Uttrakhand. The Narayannagar centre has 25 beds, Ranikhet has 17 beds and Pancheshwar has 25 beds with 5 beds at each centre for critical care. The Covid Care Centres have one ambulance, oxygen cylinders, concentrators, nebulizers and medicines for preliminary and moderate conditions of Covid.
Elaborating on the centres, IGP Kumar said, “The situation was pathetic in Ranikhet. There are remote villages with 20 to 25 persons living who hardly have any help, any facility or knowledge about the disease and it's issues. I contacted India Cares and started supplying basic help. I had one ambulance ready with me which started ferrying patients to hospitals. We have a civic action programme in SSB, under which, I initiated help to reach border areas that had no facility. We started a subsidiary control room with three mobile numbers and one landline number to receive help calls”.
Kumar stated that the villagers in Ranikhet, neighbouring villages in Haldwani, Champawat, Pittorgarh, Nanital Rishikesh and others were clueless about the medical aide and the overall information on Covid, as a disease and the basic facilities required to battle Covid.
On one hand, through the subsidiary control rooms and Twitter pages, Kumar started supplying oxygen cylinders, concentrators, medicines and other requirements to Covid affected families, on the other set up Covid Care Centres to even hospitalize the patients with Stage I and Stage II symptoms.
Recalling one case, Kumar said, “I received a call from a woman in Mississippi US regarding her ill father. She couldn’t reach India hence we sent one of our jawaans to check on him. He was found with fever, aches and shifted to the hospital. He survived and we dropped him back home.
He added, "After a few days, he developed breathing issues and she called again. This time, she flew down to India but was unable to manage supply of oxygen every day for her father. We appointed one of our jawaans who supplies oxygen cylinder to their house and refills the empty one everyday”.
The Covid Care Centres have aided 346 persons through their control rooms while another 100 directly through Kumar’s Twitter handle. Additionally, Kumar also encouraged youth in these villages where youth groups were formed to aid the senior citizens living alone in the towns, the percentage of whom is very high.
The SSB personnel too posted at the borders are susceptible to Covid 19 who are also availing the help at these Covid Care Centres. The movement of SSB jawaans is high due to continuous movement at the headquarters, border areas for deployment, patrolling, etc
IGP Kumar said, “All our campuses are sealed presently, however. We have therefore completed the RTPC and antigen tests for 100% personnel. Those who are going to or coming back from hometowns are compulsory put into 14 days quarantine. 270 families are staying in quarters at Ranikhet who all are vaccinated. Only those who are physically fit are being deployed on borders with Nepal that we guard. We are supplying food, vegetables and other in our own sanitized vehicles at the border outposts (BOPs)”.
He added, “We are directly communicating with the Covid + personnel to ensure he doesn’t get mentally weak, and his morale is boosted. Their families are being contacted and aide is reaching them if they have a necessity at home”.
The SSB personnel who showed mild symptoms of Covid are being treated at these Covid Care Centres while those who had stronger symptoms were hospitalized.
At Ranikhet Frontier, there are 86 active cases of Covid where 12 are under hospitalization while rest recovered from the disease.
The Covid Care Centres of SSB Ranikhet are also aiding the Nepal Armed Police Force who are their counterparts who require food, medicines and or hospitalization as the situation as per SSB is worse in Nepal. The SSB has been aiding many in NRPF.
