From medical emergencies to lockdown violations, citizen helpline deals with all

The government, which launched a combined Covid-19 public grievance portal under the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, has received a total of 51,989 complaints as of Wednesday.

From a host of medical emergencies like the requirement of cancer and arthritis-related medicines to neighbours alerting the authorities about quarantined patients violating guidelines, the Covid-19 crisis has citizen helplines ringing off the hook, for both the government as well as the social sector.

Of these, nearly 25,000 complaints across ministries have been disposed off in a period of 1.57 days. (HT photo)

Caremongers, a crowd-sourced initiative that started off as a conversation between school friends on March 20 has received over 50,000 requests for help from across and outside the country.

Sample this. Dr. Priya Khanna, who lives in New York, was in urgent need of a plasma donor. Infected by Covid-19, she was lodged at Clara Mass Medical Center on April 10. It was with the help of Caremongers that Priya was able to find a donor within less than a week.

“We have been receiving several requests for all kinds of issues,” said Mahita Nagraj, a digital marketing professional and founder of the Caremongers. “We try and connect people across the world so that help can provided as soon as possible.”

The group now comprises of over 36,500 volunteers attempting their bit to help in ease the woes of the coronavirus outbreak. They have delivered groceries, medicines and connected others in need of assistance for obtaining a particular blood type.

“In Mumbai, a large part of the problems are facing are medical issues,” said Keith Menon, a volunteer and architect based in Mumbai. “From cancer medication to hydroxychloroquine to help ease rheumatoid arthritis to people needing to reach hospitals, we are working overtime.”

“We are also helping the vulnerable groups living in chawls (slums) and migrants obtain ration,” he added.

The government, which launched a combined Covid-19 public grievance portal under the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, has received a total of 51,989 complaints as of Wednesday. Of these, nearly 25,000 complaints across ministries have been disposed off in a period of 1.57 days.

“There have been many supply related complaints,” a government source familiar with the matter. “Chemists and medicine stores not being open and stores inflating prices of essential goods have come to our notice.”

Among the quarantine-related incidents, there have been neighbours who have complained that those under home-quarantine are violating the terms of their isolation.

“Then, of course, there’s police harassment and families not knowing where the officials took their relatives because they suspected that they were Covid-19 positive.”

There have also been many cases of husbands trying to reach their pregnant wives who had just delivered a child.

There have also been a host of migrant labour related issues (3457), salary and employment related issues (3427) and evacuation related issues (3033) that have been reported to the government.

“A family from Chandigarh is stranded in Dubai as they would visit the city often,” said the above mentioned source. “They have asked to be evacuated.”