On Wednesday, a family of four from Aravali Vihar told the Alwar superintendent of police that they didn’t have drinking water and no one was ready to deliver water to them because all of them had Covid-19. The SP sent a water tanker to the house and also wrote to the civic body to resolve the issue.
Last week, a man from Dubai got in touch with the SP seeking help for nonagenarian parents living without food in Alwar because their maid wasn’t visiting them. The SP sent police to deliver food and medicines to the house and also offered to arrange for domestic help.
These are some examples of how Alwar SP Tejaswani Gautam is helping people who reach out to her through the e-sunwai initiative started to integrate technology with core policing. Through this, the SP reaches out to those in need and help of police but are stuck in containment or lockdown zones.
“We are trying to get in touch with those who are unable to come to my office or any police station due to the corona situation or lockdown in their area,” said Gautam.
For e-sunwai, one has to register at Alwar Police’s e-sunwai WhatsApp number. People receive links to join the virtual conferencing platforms after this.
“We are getting many requests, but for now we are sticking to helping only those who have Covid-19 or are in containment zones; the others can come to my office or visit a police station,” she added.
The initiative started on August 12 and two sessions have been conducted until Wednesday. “We plan to do this twice a week,” she said.
In the second session on Wednesday, there were 11 people, including one from Agra, who registered out of curiosity.
“The man is from Alwar and had heard about the initiative. He said he wanted to check if this was actually happening or was just a publicity gimmick,” the SP said.
Later, he said he was overwhelmed with the interaction with the SP and also gave her some suggestions for effective policing in Kathoomar area of the district.
After talking to the Aravali Vihar family, the SP said she was thinking of starting a campaign against discrimination against Covid-19 patients.
Gautam said video conferencing gives complainants a real feeling and is extremely convenient as they can communicate with the SP sitting at their homes.
During her previous posting in Churu, she used social media and online platforms for sessions with celebrities to provide entertainment to people who had been in lockdowns.
After Alwar started reporting a rise in cases, she came up with the idea of e-sunwai to help people in home or institutional quarantine, or those who had issues related to the police and needed her intervention.
Meanwhile, the Aravali Vihar family has sent her a recorded video message over WhatsApp to thank her.
