Kolkata: The Pandemic has thrown all “normalcy” into disarray. Kolkata Police has stepped out of their fixed duties and tried to redress the hardships of all classes of people during these trying times. From the distribution of food, rations, masks, and other such amenities, Kolkata Police has gone all out to provide maximum relief to the maximum number of persons.
After many instances of extreme hardships being faced by students all over the country due to their inability to avail access to online classes due to lack of required logistics came to light via social media etc. the present project was envisaged. This project was launched on social media on 23rd June 2021 and KP collaborated with Child Rights and You – a leading NGO working in the field of Child Rights for more than 4 decades now and Bharti Airtel, a leader in the telecommunications networks.
We were honored and overwhelmed to receive the kind of support that the public has shown to this project and by July end CRY had collected enough donations to fund the purchase of mobile phones. Some corporate houses/donors as part of their CSR have pooled in by contributing in kind with new mobile phones too. Thus, to date, we have been able to gather 300 plus new smartphones.
We have collectively identified about 200 student beneficiaries to date out of which we have kicked off this project by handing over 50 of such devices along with free data packs. The remaining students-beneficiaries have been identified division wise and the same shall be handed over to them by the Divisional DCs in the next couple of days.
CRY shall be handholding the beneficiaries on do’s and dont’s of online space through their in-house programs and will also be maintaining a database of the beneficiaries and keeping a regular watch on the students and document their progress.
Airtel is providing free data for initial three months after which data at a subsidized rate shall be provided to the beneficiaries.
Kolkata Police, through this initiative, will be covering 300 student beneficiaries in the current phase. We are focusing mostly on 13-18 age groups who are in the more critical career-driven stage of their schooling.
Ld. Commissioner of Police, Kolkata handed over smartphones along with a Data pack (issued in the name of the respective guardians) to 50 such students belonging to various parts of Kolkata. The smiles of these students said it all. We are just happy to add a tiny bit of joy to this city of Joy. Kolkata Police wish all of them a bright future ahead.
Our, Reporter in Chief
R. Manoj Kumar Sharma
Siliguri City, West Bengal
