Policemen in Chennai played a different role during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. They supplied high-quality food to health workers handling patients at government hospitals. At least 3,000 meals were prepared and delivered daily to hospitals since May 10 till Wednesday to reduce the pressure on doctors, nurses and other health workers.
At the initiative of Additional Director-General of Police A.K. Viswanathan, many individuals, philanthropists and corporate houses pooled their resources for the exercise. Immediately after the government imposed the lockdown, Mr. Viswanathan and his associates, who were involved in relief during the 2015 floods, discussed with officials, including the Health Secretary, on what help they could offer.
Mr. Viswanathan said, “After the heavy rain in 2015, we joined Home Guard volunteers and started a kitchen on the premises of Guru Nanak College. We delivered two lakh meals to the marooned. That experience helped us deliver quality food to healthcare workers on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19. After the lockdown was declared, we thought that we could be helpful to the healthcare workers... This would help them get over their worry about organising good food. This helped the hospitals focus on treatment of patients at a very crucial time — when the second wave peaked. We supplied more than 1,50,000 food packets in the last 52 days.”
After ascertaining the requirement from five government hospitals, they opened a kitchen and hired cooks working at wedding halls. Constables from the Tamil Nadu Commando Force were roped in. Later, men of the Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force joined them. They packed the food in disposable containers from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. “Police personnel transported the food in police vehicles... Because of the lockdown, only policemen could do all these things,” Mr. Viswanathan said.
Every day, 3,000 meals for lunch and dinner were served to the healthcare workers at five hospitals, including Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in the city and Government General Hospital, Chengalpattu. “Health workers have been working round the clock. They could not step out owing to their workload. It was our duty to help them,” said K.P.S. Jeyachandran, SP, Commando Force.
The menu included roti, fulka, channa, dal, sweet, poori, palak panneer, vegetable pulao, panneer pulao and curd. Pizza and juice were also served on some days. “During the pandemic, everybody was contributing to the needy. We wanted to take care of the food requirements of doctors and other health staff working at COVID centres. They were under pressure. While supplying food, we wanted to be a little different — deliver the best quality food. Hence, we focused on the ingredients. We used basmati rice, high quality ‘atta’ and fresh vegetables... Every day, the menu was changed,” said Manjit Singh Nayyar, general secretary of Guru Nanak Educational Society.