The essentials’ home delivery initiative launched in Jayanagar, Basavanagudi, Chikpete, and Padmanabhanagar Assembly constituencies has received good response from citizens, with hundreds of requests pouring in from other areas as well.
The helpline received 1,493 calls on April 12 and 2,666 calls on April 13. “However, not all calls were from the service providing areas and hence, not all could be attended to,” said helpline personnel, adding that some callers wanted to know how the system worked.
But, don’t expect instant delivery. V. Shankar, resident of Tata Silk Farm, Basavanagudi, said the groceries he had ordered was delivered in six hours. “I had also ordered medicines for an elderly couple staying in my building, which was delivered in four hours,” he said.
However, a few people The Hindu spoke to were not aware of the initiative and many who were aware had not utilised it. Manjunath S. of Shankarapuram Residents’ Welfare Association said more publicity required with necessary precautionary measures. “The safety of essential delivery personnel should be taken care of along with that of shopkeepers,” he said.
Ananda Theertha of Basavanagudi said that it since there was no delivery charge, incentives should be given to the delivery personnel either by the government, respective partner firms, or by the people.
Rohini Katoch Sepat, DCP, South, said the back-end data collection including mapping and geotagging of outlets and kirana stores was crucial in successful implementation of the initiative. “Our beat constables, along with volunteers, have worked hard to map and geotag the outlets,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Police Department have been directed by the government to map and geotag outlets in the rest of the zones to expand the project soon.
The service’s WhatsApp number recorded requests from hundreds of people from other areas. On April 12, of the 768 requests received via WhatsApp, 226 were outside the service area, while on April 13, of the 1,223 requests, 402 were from outside the helpline’s limits.