New Delhi: The Delhi Police has opened six wellness centres in the national capital to take care of personnel’s physical and mental health, Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava announced via Twitter Wednesday.
The centres, which will be set up at the police colonies, will take care of the force’s primary medical treatment and include Ayurvedic as well as tele-counselling services to address psychological issues.
An MoU has also been signed with the Ministry of AYUSH for Ayurvedic doctors at the centres. These will also have outdoor gymnasiums.
Long hours of duty, pressures of work, no fixed time for food etc takes a toll on policemen’s physical and mental health. Opened 6 Wellness centres in Police colonies for primary medical treatment, including Ayurvedic and tele-counselling to address psychological issues.
— CP Delhi #DilKiPolice (@CPDelhi) August 18, 2020
Speaking to ThePrint, Public Relations Officer of the Delhi Police Eish Singhal explained how the pandemic had taken a toll on the force. “Only when we take care of our men can they help others.”
Singhal pointed out how temporary arrangements had to be made to accommodate personnel during the pandemic so that they could live separately from their families to avoid spreading the infection.
Those with comorbidities, he added, were sent to less exposure-prone areas. All protocols were always in place for everyone, including masks, sanitisers, temperature guns, hand gloves etc, said Singhal.
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Wellness centres under Project Niramaya
The Delhi Police had released a statement Tuesday stating how the pandemic had put a lot of pressure on its personnel — right from strategising during the total lockdown to enforcement of containment protocols, contact tracing and the gradual easing of restrictions.
“This entire exercise was akin to sending soldiers to war without a full know-how of the strength of the enemy,” read the statement.
It also mentioned the launch of Project Niramaya to contain Covid-19’s spread among its personnel even when deployed across the capital.
Under the initiative, contact tracing of infected personnel and providing quarantine facilities for infected members is done. Different aspects of the project have been introduced since its launch in June.
The six wellness centres are also a part of Project Niramaya. They have been opened in Hauz Khas, Dwarka, Shailmar Bagh, Model Town, Jyoti Nagar and Jagatpuri.
According to the Delhi Police, more than 500 police personnel and their families have already availed facilities at the centres.
Another important component of Project Niramaya is Ayur Raksha, which was launched on 30 April. Ayur Raksha involves immunity boosting methods with Ayurveda, in tandem with the AYUSH ministry. More than 1.49 lakh Ayur Raksha kits have been distributed to over 81,000 police personnel in the past 60 days.
A one-on-one tele counselling service is also available for those who test positive for Covid-19. As of 3 August, more than 2,200 personnel have undergone counselling, said the statement.
There is also a general mental health tele-counselling service, another Covid-19 counselling helpline and WhatsApp helpline numbers to build solidarity among personnel.
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