The 21-day nationwide lockdown has brought out both sides of the Assam Police, with its personnel, on one hand, enforcing the restrictions on the movement of people by caning violators and making them do push-ups and on the other, they were also seen feeding the poor and helping the needy.
The lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of novel coronavirus entered the third day on Friday.
Individual and collective deeds of kindness by police personnel were witnessed across the state in the past two days.
While lone constables were seen feeding beggars in Golaghat and Nalbari districts, a police team distributed food grains to the needy in Nagaon district.
Another such team eased the homeward-bound journey of an octogenarian who walked nearly 100 km from Kaliabor to reach Biswanath Chariali by giving him lift in a police vehicle to his village in Lakhimpur district.
On Thursday, personnel of the Smart Protection Unit of the Assam Police were seen distributing cooked food in Guwahati's Fancy Bazar area.
The 70,000-strong state police force has earned praise from people for such initiatives.
"We are helping people with the mindset of social service. We are doing every possible thing to alleviate the distress of the people in this hour of need," Additional Director General (Administration) Harmeet Singh told PTI.
Singh said a nodal officer has been appointed to coordinate with organisations and individuals willing to feed the poor.
He said in the last two days, several NGOs have come forward and provided the needy with food items while a dozen others have contacted the police for similar initiatives in the coming few days.
From Friday, police personnel in Goalpara district will feed lunch to 100 BPL cardholders every day for the next 20 days, Singh said.
At Srirampur in Kokrajhar district along the Assam- West Bengal border, police personnel have fed hundreds of people arriving from various parts of the country before placing them under quarantine, he said.
Personnel of the force were also seen delivering essential commodities, including medicines and gas cylinders, to elderly persons.
"We are looking after elderly persons who live alone as their children have migrated to other states or abroad for work. We are responding to many requests for help across the state," Singh added.
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