Transgender Community for Deliveries, Call Centre for Elderly: How Tamil Nadu Cop Led Covid-19 Fight

They say, being a police officer is not a job but way of life. It is satisfying, rewarding, saddening, lonely, and fulfilling—all in one day. Every day presents a new challenge. When you wear the uniform, you lose your “you” and become “an officer”.

As the Covid-19 warning bells were ringing in other parts of the world, the medical man in me became curious about the virus. My better half, a journalist, kept telling this virus is getting bigger and would worry even if I coughed. By March, we were clear about the situation in India. The government alerted all of us to get ready. The initial days were spent in planning, mobilising resources, training and building systems. The world had not witnessed such a pandemic in recent times. It was like starting from the scratch. For me, as the superintendent of police of newly carved out district, it’s like handling a newborn. The Tirupathur district in Tamil Nadu with 13 lakh population spread around 1,800 square kilometres was formed in November 2019.

The challenges started to build up from the day of self-imposed makkal curfew on March 22. The looming pandemic compelled us to plan for long spells of lockdown, increasing the capacity of health facilities at least 10 times in terms of the number of beds. Our most important task was educating the public about the virus, seeking their cooperation and advising about precautions to be adopted. This district comprises mostly of villages and people were not much aware of the pandemic. We first wanted to educate the team. We formed 26 delta teams and two wheelers — modified with fitting public address system — were sent to remote villages to educate the public about the importance of staying home, wearing mask and washing hands.

We also decided to reorient the focus of policing. It was different from handling a law and order situation or even a disaster. We are fighting against an invisible virus which has changed the entire world now. In a small but diverse district, our first focus was to map the travel history of citizens.

In the initial days, I instructed my team to start the tracing manually in coordination with other concerned departments and then quarantine them. This obviously was new for our people who resisted the idea of confinement. There was also a stigma attached. There were people trying to move. We came up with an idea of monitoring via Google maps. This scheme was already in place in the district police monitoring the movement of patrol vehicles so as to attend an emergency the nearest vehicle is diverted from police control room. Open source web application Google map and its location sharing tool is used to monitor the real time location of the quarantined individuals against the GPS coordinates of their residences through control room. It was simple and effective. This was a quick process to monitor the people who have been quarantined.

As the pandemic started showing its face, our personal and professional lives also changed. We first had to build a good team of officers and then gain the confidence of people. I personally didn’t want my district people to fear police during the lockdown. But I wanted them to be aware of the seriousness. Our policemen were briefed about showing kindness while attending to the basic needs of people during lockdown. The district collector Mr Sivanarul is an experienced officer and a true leader. He coordinated with various departments like health, revenue, rural development and others. We started working on a war foot basis. We wanted to infuse energy in the team which has just begun setting up the new district. We ensured to design the day and purpose.

As a policeman, I am used to long hours of working. But now it’s about squeezing in time in between work to eat and sleep. My day starts at around 5.30 am when I get a call from my team or even public. I have shared my mobile number with the district people for immediate help. My 19-month-old daughter sleeping next to me gives me enough boost to work through the day. I start my day by giving her a kiss. I then do my workout and have a healthy meal.

My intelligence inspector gives a briefing at around 6.30 am at the camp office and I get updates from the DSP. Review of the previous day’s work and plan for the day is decided over phone or via mic with my junior colleagues. The supervisory officers are updated over phone about the situation. I have had to ensure that my office and camp office staff also follow safety protocol. We put up videos for the police personnel on hand wash routine and hygiene. This pandemic meant more travelling. I had to ensure that safety protocols and hygiene measures were implemented at home. All police stations were fitted with washbasins at the entrance.

I sometimes yearn to spend more time with my daughter who comes running to me when I start for work. But I know it’s not possible during these tough times. She seems to have understood because as I start, Nila gives a warm smile. But the hard part is, if Nila is awake when I return home, she is used to hugging me. Now I just can’t allow that before taking a shower. That has indeed disappointed my daughter.

I head to either office or to the field depending on the situation in the morning. I meet visitors and ensure systems and processes are in place, and law and order and public peace is maintained. After the proclamation of prohibitory orders under 144 CrPC from March 24, everything changed. Nomenclature of social distance, personal and respiratory hygiene grabbed attention. The district police swung into action, 24x7 control and response centre in SP office was strengthened and citizens were informed to contact the CRC to clarify their doubts about the Covid-19.

As a doctor, I was able to coordinate with medical teams as well. As an SP, I wanted to ensure the needs of every vulnerable person in the district was taken care of. I hail from a modest family and being a first-generation graduate, I have seen it all. The Tamil Nadu government under the leadership of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has directed that no one should go to bed with empty stomach. So community kitchens were opened at block levels by the district administration. Police coordinated with other departments and ensured that food reached the last man in the district.

Tirupathur has a sizeable number of migrant labourers. While we reached out to them, we didn’t want to miss orphanages and senior citizens homes as well. As much as we need social distancing, we also need volunteers who are ready to work at the frontline. In a short span of time, we could manage 1500 volunteers. It was overwhelming to see many come forward to help the society. This is Resilience and compassion is something that our country is capable of reflecting during crisis.

Apart from students and ex-servicemen, we wanted to bring in transgenders. They are marginalised in the society, but every crisis unfolds an opportunity. We included them as volunteers. During the lockdown, we provided them food and other facilities. At the same time, we tapped into their potential to help us. They were briefed, provided with protective gears and deployed to assist police in maintaining social distance, traffic regulation at check posts and for packing of essential goods to be delivered at doorsteps. As we were gearing up with manpower, we did have the challenge of violations of lockdown. My officers and I were on rounds to check this. We used drones to check on violations. I also believe that reaching out to people helped prevent violations.

We built local teams to form WhatsApp groups with every resident. They could share their problems and if they required something at home. Village vigilance committees were formed in 770 villages/wards which were made into individual units. Police person is attached to each unit. There is a committee of local residents who assist the police in establishing a two-way communication. This helped in neutralising rumours, educating the public, and getting feedback from the citizens. We used WhatsApp and personal phone calls.

Thanks to Covid-19, the district police became active on Twitter. What other way is better to share and receive information? We also did some interesting videos with interviews of people, officers and volunteers. The videos also contained information on Covid-19. Thanks to social media, these videos have become a hit among people as we update everything in real time. While coronavirus is deadly, it also has taught every one of us to invent and rethink about our functioning. This pandemic can be mentally depressing. To ease out and also give awareness, we conduct online drawing and quiz competitions for children. The participation has been overwhelming as enthusiastic parents and children have been sending their creative ideas.

Covid-19 is a challenge for the entire humanity and not just a challenge between humans. That’s why we in police service believe in having a humane approach to it. Our DGP, ADGP, IGP and DIGP were particular that we maintain law and order, ensure safety and follow the instructions. They also wanted us be humane and understanding to the needs of the people. At the same time, for the violation of law the district police registered around 7,000 cases as on May 8 and seized as many numbers of two wheelers.

As we all know, elderly persons are most vulnerable to Covid-19. One day when I was on a field visit to Vaniyambadi, a major town in Tirupattur district, I came across an epileptic elderly man who had fainted. Medical help was yet to reach. Since I am a paediatrician turned IPS officer, I was able to provide first aid to the gentleman and ensured he was properly positioned so as to not injure himself or aspirate in case of vomiting. I kept him safe till the ambulance reached. Later, he was discharged from the hospital and is now fine. Incidents Like these give a sense of satisfaction after hectic hours of work. Of course, we all should help during emergencies and not fear the Covid-19 spread. We have to take precautions but not stigmatise. We have started a senior citizen security cell —a call centre that was opened in district police office to reach out to the senior citizens. We started calling up the vulnerable, the senior citizens who are in need of food or medical help. We have around 46,000 senior citizens under the OAP scheme itself.

It is never me but the work done by team that makes me a satisfied man. A lady officer in our team had left her children behind for her Covid-19 duty. The brave officer later tested positive for the virus. As I sent her in the ambulance, she left with a smile, saying, “I will soon be fine, sir”. Now, she is back home and that makes me relieved. I know that our personnel are working day and night.

As the district police chief, it is my duty to keep them in good spirits. We usually give spot rewards for officers who do a good job. It is announced via mic for everyone to know. Many have been missing out on their home-cooked food but we manage to arrange home food for them on Sundays. I keep telling myself and my officers that soon we will be having a smooth sail. Yes, this pandemic has changed our lives forever. Masks, sanitisers and personal hygiene will become our way of life henceforth. The biggest take away is handling the society with a new lens. When there is large scale crisis, police is the only department on the ground which is liaising with all government and private sectors to ensure that the essential supply chain is intact. We have to keep the system is place so that crisis can be handled. We as government officers have to give special attention to the poor, vulnerable, children, tribal, migrants, elderly and women.

My day usually ends at around 11.30 pm and sometimes as late as 1am (not to mention emergency calls in between). By the time I get back, on most days my daughter is fast asleep. I play with her if I get back a little early. I hope my family and society remain safe during this pandemic. But it’s important to be fearless like my child who doesn’t know about the virus. At the same time, we should also be aware like adults. This balance will ensure peace during these trying times.