Kolkata Police Commissioner, Vineet Goyal, and other police officials held a virtual meeting with senior citizens of Pronam. BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly also joined in along with singer Upal Sengupta, geriatric specialist Dr Dhiresh Choudhury, Arindam Sil and Esha Dutta, Joint Conveners of Pronam project. Pronam is a joint venture between Kolkata Police and The Bengal for the elderly of the city.
While assuring the senior citizens, Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal said: “Whenever you need us you will find the Kolkata Police by your side.”
Addressing the senior citizens, Ganguly said: “I am so glad to hear that many of you enjoy watching my TV programmes (he hosts the popular game show Dadagiri).”
The BCCI president also urged the elderly to do exercises on a daily basis at home or on the roof, whenever possible. “The Kolkata Police is there to take care of your security and safety. Please stay happy and safe. I, and we all, shall one day be senior citizens like you,” he said.
Sundeep Bhutoria of The Bengal described Pronam as a model project for senior citizens that strive to provide 24X7mental and physical support and security to them. “The project gathers feedback from the elderly and continuously upgrades itself to meet new challenges. During Covid-19, Pronam provided medicines and essential services to those senior citizens whose mobility was restricted due to age-related ailments. The Pronam project has been very successful in creating a community service model for the elderly in the city,” he said.
Singer Upal Sengupta of Chandrabindoo sang songs for the senior citizens. Dr Dhiresh Choudhury, a geriatric specialist, gave a presentation on health and interacted with the Pronam members from across the city on Covid-19 awareness. Actor Soham and Director Raja Chanda also attended the virtual meet.
Over the past one week, Kolkata Police personnel have held a series of virtual meetings with Pronam members of Port Division & East Suburban Division and Central Division & East Suburban Division, SSD, SED Parnasree Police Stations in which Esha Dutta, Joint Convener of Pronam project, and tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh, had participated. Actress Tanusree interacted with Pronam members and singer Iman Chakraborty also performed during the virtual session.
Earlier, the Kolkata Police Commissioner, in his first meeting on project Pronam after assuming charge, had instructed his officials to contact senior citizens over the phone and extend necessary support. The Commissioner emphasised the need to maintain safe-distancing protocols among police officials due to the rapid rise in Covid cases in the city. This would also reduce the chances of affecting senior citizens through physical contact since the elderly residents are especially vulnerable to the virus.
Sandeep Show, SI Cyber Crime, PS DD, gave a presentation on cyber fraud and discussed bank frauds targeting senior citizens. Sergeant Prasun Das, HQF, played a musical instrument. Amit Chatterjee, Additional OC Park Street Police Station, Dr Tanmay Ray Chaudhury, IPS, Additional CP (IV), Manas Jha, OC, CPW, Kolkata Police, Manika Batabyal, Additional AO of Pronam Ballygunge and Tollygunge were at the virtual conference. Songs were sung by Inspector Debjit Chatterjee and Sub-Inspector Nirupom of Hare Street police station. Rupesh Kumar, IPS, DC Central Division, concluded with a vote of thanks.
More than a decade ago, the Kolkata Police and The Bengal had jointly started the Pronam project to support senior citizens residing within Kolkata. The then chief minister Jyoti Basu was one of the first members to register under Pronam. Currently, over 18,000 senior citizens have been enrolled as members of Pronam. The Kolkata Police have set up special infrastructure to help the senior citizens of Kolkata.
