‘This is CM speaking’: Yediyurappa attends call in Covid war room, initiates immediate help to patient

BENGALURU: “Hello, Can you hear me?”, “What is the problem? What do you need?”, “Are you in need of an ICU bed?”, “We will arrange for it immediately, will you get admitted?”, “Do you have a BU number? “, “Please hold on for a minute.”

These could well be the words of any staffer manning a BBMP Covid war room when worried relatives of patients call. But on Monday, the person responding to a call requesting an ICU bed was none other than Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

During his visit to the BBMP Covid war room in Domlur, Yediyurappa took a “hands-on approach” to a whole new level when he wore a headset and sat in one of the chairs of call centre volunteers to take a helpline call and assist a Bengalurean find a bed. Even as the staff guided him on the process of taking down details and running a check on bed availability, Yediyurappa introduced himself to the caller and assured him of an ICU bed.

“Our officials will call you and inform. Please get admitted immediately. This is the Chief Minister speaking. I have taken down all the details you have given me. Officials will tell you where to get admitted,” Yediyurappa told the caller before hanging up. The Domlur BBMP call centre is the third such war room Yediyurappa has visited over the last few weeks. During the lockdown last year, he went on city rounds, spoke to street vendors, hawkers, pushcart vendors etc to inquire about challenges they faced. But this time around, the CM has been visiting State and BBMP war rooms.

“I took one call that came to the war room today. A Covid patient needed an ICU bed and it was arranged immediately. Things are taking a turn for the better,” Yediyurappa said. While the Chief Minister’s impromptu visit and assuinisterrance to a patient’s relative over phone won him appreciation on social media, many citizens also expressed how difficult it has been to find beds, especially ICU beds, for volunteer groups and citizens who weren’t as lucky to connect with the CM directly.