Volunteer force gets 3.3 lakh members to meet the crisis

TNN | Apr 26, 2020, 10:21 IST

Sannadha Sena volunteers ready food packets to be distributed among the needy in Palakkad

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If there is something that is growing faster than Covid-19 pandemic in state, it is the army of volunteers (Samoohika Sannadha Sena) formed by the government to combat it. The total number of people, who signed up for the army, stood at 3,32,274 on Saturday.
This includes 2,63,754 men, 68,467 women and 53 members from the transgender community. As many as 2,53,674 are aged between 20 and 40. The volunteer army has personnel from numerous fields, ranging from medical and IT sector to graduates waiting for job placements and even skilled labourers. Also, 25,434 Kudumbashree workers, 11,340 state youth commission volunteers, 10,150 NSS volunteers, 6325 NCC cadets and 3,422 ex-NCC cadets, are part of the force.
The director of this team, Amit Meena, said the initiative (officially launched by the chief minister in January) saw a massive jump in enrolment after lockdown came into effect. Two days after lockdown began, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan appealed to the youth to join the force and help Kerala by carrying out welfare activities.
"Until then, the enrolment was just over 11,000. CM’s appeal led to an overwhelming response from the youth, which is evident in their numbers," said Meena adding that at this rate, the total strength of the force would touch the target of 3.5 lakh. The government’s aim was to create a force with a ratio of one volunteer per 100 citizens. He said that the service of over 37,500 volunteers was being utilized in Covid-related activities. Primarily they are engaged in tasks such as handling the works in community kitchens, delivery of grains and essential supplies at households, manning district-level Covid-19 control rooms and supplying essential medicines and distribution of seeds and fertilizers. "We have set up a control room at Anert headquarters, which is manned by 40 volunteers. They attend calls received through our tollfree helpline (0471-155300) and assign tasks to volunteers in the field based on their locality," said Meena, who is also the director of Anert.
He added that once Covid-19 activities are over, the state would give training to these volunteers in works related to disaster management and mitigation activities. Anyone aged between 16 and 65 can sign up with the force by logging onto www.sannadhasena-.kerala.gov.in.