What has been the contribution of the CRPF in the nation’s fight against Covid-19?

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is the largest internal security force in India. It is spread all over the country. In terms of establishments alone, it is located in about 400 places. In terms of company deployments, we have more than 1,200 company post. This will give you a sense of our outreach. It is because of this outreach that when Covid-19 pandemic began, the CRPF was able to contribute in different arenas.

To start with, first we understood the fundamentals of Covid-19 ourselves and then increased the awareness within the force. Having learnt this, not only the force adapted to the Covid-19 challenge, but we also built a common Covid inventory. We realised that we needed the masks in large numbers. Hence, we set up the machines ourselves to produce three-ply masks. Soon the CRPF Family Welfare Association joined in the effort and started stitching the cloth masks.

Once we realised that our troops would be coming in contact with a large number of people, we started to produce PPE kits. As our community interface increased, we started holding various types of inventories including hand-washing agents and sanitizers.

We told the government that since we have a lot of manpower spread across the country, we will be able to contribute more. The government was kind enough to give us Rs 10 crore. So, we started supplying the Covid inventories, like masks and sanitisers, to the community too. We extended protection to the migrants and also supplied food and immunity-boosting material to them. What’s more, we established our quarantine centres. We prepared our hospitals for stage 1 of Covid. These facilities were extended not only to force personnel but also to civilians.

As part of our civic action programme, we carried out awareness drives in the community. We made small films of our bands playing different tunes. We conducted poster competition among children on Covid-19. We have a digital platform ‘Madadgar’, which we had sanctioned for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, including those who live in other parts of the country. It is pan-India platform. We spoke to the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and converted the ‘Madadgar’ line to deal with Covid-19 problems. We were getting requisitions from all over the country because it’s a digital platform and a click away. We also liaisoned with the local police and district administration whenever we received a distress call on ‘Madadgar’ from anywhere in the count