Over 8,000 cops manning Punjab mandis to ensure social distancing during wheat procurement

As many 8,620 police personnel and 6,483 volunteers are maintaining a round-the-clock vigil at the grain markets to ensure social distancing and smooth procurement of wheat in Punjab, an official said on Thursday.

Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said the frontline police personnel on duty at the mandis have been equipped to protect the farmers and others coming to these centres, while also ensuring their own protection.

All police personnel have been provided with face masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, etc, and also briefed about their proper usage.

Police personnel having health issues, especially those relating to heart and respiration, are not deployed for frontline duty.

To ensure proper social distancing, public address systems are being used for effective dissemination of guidelines and instructions so that physical proximity is avoided at the procurement centres, which are being regularly sanitised, said a government release.

The police personnel deployed in various mandis have been asked to ensure checking at all entry/exit points, traffic flow and de-congestion of roads leading up to the mandi and purchase centres, besides ensuring law and order and proper flow of people and vehicular movement.

They have also been tasked with maintaining social distancing at procurement centres, and checking the passes issued to farmers and 'arthiyas' (commission agents) to avoid crowding and congestion in the mandis.

Gupta said the police personnel have also been directed to ensure that combine harvesters do not operate at night after 7 pm, and to allow only one trolley with one person having a valid coupon at the entry point of the village to go to the mandi.

Elaborating on the role of volunteers during harvesting/procurement, Gupta said they had been given the task of ensuring social distancing in mandis, so as to make people, especially the farmers, aware about its significance.

The volunteers have offered their services to assist the police in enforcement of various measures such as maintaining social distancing, ensuring wearing of masks/gloves and use of sanitizers by farmers, labourers and other stakeholders.

Wheat procurement started in Punjab from April 15. The country is under a lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.