Ludhiana: A water cooler, a small air-conditioner, a planter in one corner, a calendar on the wall and a photograph of Guru Nanak Dev — the only decors in the otherwise white-walled office of Sub Inspector Madhu Bala, station house officer (SHO) at Sarabha Nagar in Punjab’s Ludhiana.
A big office sparse of any personal touch, her desk remains empty barring her uniform hat, a few official documents, a pen stand and a sanitiser on the wooden table.
The office and the leather-cushioned chair have, however, remained empty for most part of the day since the nationwide lockdown was announced on 24 March.
As of Thursday morning, Punjab has recorded 357 Covid-19 cases and 19 deaths. While the frontline health workers are responsible for testing and treating patients, it’s the police that has a key role in ensuring the lockdown serves its purpose of controlling the spread of the disease.
This is what Bala has been doing with her long days. On 24 April, ThePrint followed her through the day to get a peek into how the Punjab Police is working through the lockdown and attending to the many concerns of Ludhiana residents.
‘Checking for no unnecessary travel’
With 13 checkpoints in the Sarabha Nagar area, SHO Madhu Bala’s day began at 5 am, instead of the usual 9 am. Armed with her mask, gloves, extra sanitiser bottles and a portable charger, she left to make 15-20 minute long visits to all the checkpoints under her area, which she does at least twice a day.
“It helps build the morale of my team on the ground as well. They feel good knowing that their SHO is always there with them,” she told ThePrint, as she stepped out of the police jeep, put on her cap and made her way to the Verka checkpoint, the busiest of all because of being connected to the national highway.
A team of four police constables and two volunteers, who come for two hours every day, man the checkpoints here. The constables’ day begins at 5 am and ends at 8 pm. A makeshift shed-like structure has been put in place at all checkpoints with a water cooler, spare gloves and extra sanitiser bottles.
At the Verka checkpoint, four barricades are in place on one lane and every car that passes by is stopped and checked diligently.
“We are checking to ensure people are not travelling unnecessarily. Those who have a pass are being allowed through. Those who have emergencies are checked if it’s genuine,” Bala told ThePrint.
However, she believes that 60 per cent of the people just lie to get out. “They’ll show us an old prescription and say we’re going to the hospital. But they’re just out doing other things. We are doing our duty, but some people don’t understand,” she said.
But there are those who don’t even have a good enough excuse, Bala claimed. “We are also detaining those who are breaking lockdown rules,” she said, adding three people were detained just in the morning, and their vehicles impounded.
Some are even fined depending on their behaviour and whether or not they cooperate. “Some people roam around unnecessarily and then they get into arguments with us, they don’t understand the gravity of the situation,” Bala said.
The lockdown was extended from its initial 14-April deadline to 3 May as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the country — as of Thursday, the numbers stood at 33,050 and 1,074 deaths. While India is managing to flatten the curve, social distancing protocols have to be strictly maintained.
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The domestic help headache
The strict measures have forced Indians to stay inside their homes, but they have also forced them to become less dependent on their domestic help. Household chores such as cooking and cleaning are now additional work. The Covid-19 fears are real but the posh locals of Ludhiana seem to have other graver concerns.
“I get complaints daily from the Agar Nagar area of domestic helps trying to go to their employers’ homes. They are also not entirely at fault, their employers need to understand the seriousness of the situation but they don’t. They always have some excuse as to why they cannot do without the domestic help, but it is hardly ever genuine,” said Bala.
Standing in line while maintaining social distance outside a pharmacy, Neelam, who works as a domestic help, said, “I haven’t even got my salary for the month. I went on 25 March but was turned away by the police. We had enough food and savings to last this month, but I don’t know what to do now.”
Another domestic help, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “My madam keeps calling and asking me to come. She says it’s allowed now. I went today but was turned away by the police. I went yesterday to get my salary but they are not giving me any money. They are not being supportive at all.”
The police rounds
At around 10 am, Bala reached Sunnet village in Ludhiana — a poor hub of migrant labourers — under her jurisdiction.
As the jeep moved in, it parted the sea of people out on the streets into two. Upon hearing the police siren and seeing khaki-clothed people walking their way, the locals ran up into their houses and shut the door behind them.
The large speaker attached to the roof of the car blared the statutory announcement, requesting people to stay in their homes, maintain social distancing, and warned them against trying to head back to their villages in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other such states. Spreading awareness in areas like these is key.
“The police come here quite often, twice or thrice every day, to ensure that people remain in their houses. We are very thankful to them as no case has been reported from here yet,” Javed Ali, a resident of Sunnet, told ThePrint.
While no cases have been reported from the village, the worries remain. With no work and thus no income, the labourers are also looking to feeding their families.
However, charitable efforts from some of the financially better-off residents and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, have given them some hope in these trying times.
Also read: With just biscuits and water, migrants on highways walk, cycle to homes hundreds of miles away
Food distribution
A wooden desk and chair strategically placed under a big banyan tree right across the police station in Sarabha Nagar is where locals line up to avail their dry ration — 10 kg wheat and 2 kg pulses and sugar each — under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.
“My team helps with the food distribution and ensures crowding does not take place. I overlook this process daily,” SHO Bala said around afternoon during her daily round.
The distribution is managed by a police officer who sits at the desk from 8 am and until a daily list of ration beneficiaries provided by the assistant commissioner of police is exhausted. Usually, a total of 35-40 people are provided for every day.
The practice of providing dry ration used to be a door-to-door activity earlier. But that is no longer the case. “Every time we would go to give the ration to the one house, everyone around would also start asking. But that is not how it works. We can’t just give it to anyone. They have to call on 1905 and get their names added to the list,” said Assistant Sub Inspector Kulwant Singh.
However, this is not the only source of food for the poor.
Ayush Bhalla, owner of an amusement park in Ludhiana, began langar service for those who need it three days after the lockdown was announced.
Serving one meal a day for 2,500 individuals, Bhalla said, “People are more likely to follow the rules of social distancing when an authority like the police is carrying out the process.”
Bhalla’s team cooks the food, packs it and then hands it over to the municipal corporation, which in turn distributes it to the needy with the help of the police.
‘Drop in crime rate’
Since the lockdown, working hours of the Punjab police have extended, but crime rates have dropped, according to Sameer Verma, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana (West).
Road accidents are negligible, thefts are finished, snatching has also reduced. While cases of fights and brawls have decreased, some occasional cases do come up.
However, instances of domestic violence have increased.
“We have appointed dedicated female police officers at every police station to deal with such cases who help with providing counselling and registering FIRs,” Verma told ThePrint.
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The birthday cake
Meanwhile, Bala’s daily rounds around her jurisdictions continued.
While there are fears of infection in frontline workers, the police force has too has faced attacks for carrying out its duty in Punjab.
The ASI incident in Patiala — where an officer’s hand was chopped off by a group of Nihangs earlier this month — has only made Bala more vigilant. But it didn’t not scare her. “This is our duty,” she said.
Her family, which includes her parents and two brothers, have been supportive throughout but worried nonetheless. “The advice starts in the morning. My mother calls 6-7 times a day, sometimes more. She keeps telling me to wash my hands and wear a mask all the time. My family understands that it’s my duty so they don’t ask me to come back but they are afraid,” she said.
In Ludhiana, four members of the police force have tested positive for Covid-19 while on duty. One of them, Sub Inspector Ashpreet Kaur, is a friend of Bala’s. “She has mild symptoms, but is otherwise stable. Her treatment is going well at DMC Hospital, Ludhiana,” Bala said.
“I talk to her on a regular basis. She has handled it very well, she did not panic at all and was only worried about her family. I’m not scared and I’m taking all the necessary precautions but we still don’t get to know when we may get infected,” she told ThePrint. It was past 10 pm.
A last task before the day could end was to fulfill a request she had received — to wish birthday to a resident in her area. The police jeep and four police officers on bikes arrived at a location close to the Sarabha Nagar station, where they sang birthday wishes to the man with a cake.
As Bala prepared to head home, her phone was still ringing with residents reaching out with their concerns. She attended to them, looking forward to be on the ground again in just a few hours’ time.
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