Kolkata, the city of Joy is home to almost 45 lakh citizens, out of which a large number of people belong to the homeless and not-so-privileged category. A tour along any Kolkata street reveals the plight of the poverty-ridden along with mentally unstable people. To rescue these people, an initiative called the “Emergency Response” has been set up to respond to any call for assistance from the Kolkata Police. The volunteers reach the spot at the earliest to rescue the needy and give them some respite from their plight by providing care, protection or any kind of treatment. 

Emami Foundation sponsored Save Life Kolkata, known as the SLK – an initiative that was implemented through a “Triple R” approach -Rescue, Restoration and Rehabilitation to secure and ensure basic human rights to the people on the streets, in collaboration for general grants by Hope Foundation. This project ensures 24*7 physical and emotional support to Any Person at Risk on Street referred to as ‘APAROS’. SLK aims to rescue the abandoned, destitute, trafficked women and children, accident victims and those suffering from mental health issues by offering a variety of rescue, rehabilitation and restoration services across Kolkata and its neighbouring areas. 

HIVE India, the main mastermind behind this project operates in active collaboration with its primary, secondary and tertiary stakeholders like the Kolkata Police including Community Police Wing, Civil Defence Group, Disaster Management Group, Missing Persons Bureau, NGOs, Social Organizations, Rehabilitation Centers, Women’s Grievance Cell, Juvenile Justice Board, Children’s Welfare Committee and Women’s Commission to tackle widespread child-women issues, human rights and senior citizen issues. These departments and HIVE, their implementation partner provided some data on the number of missing people, accident victims, victims of domestic violence etc., which clearly revealed that no attention was given to these people on the road. This led to the onset of the day-night emergency response service to handle emergency situations and were supported with ambulances and care-givers to respond to any emergency immediately. 

Therefore SLK endeavours to restore the detached aged and children in their respective families and rescue and rehabilitate abandoned women to their families, whereby the average expenditure per beneficiary is INR 15,000. This place is also the ultimate home for all the poor and homeless people, children and people living on the streets, missing and runaway people, alcoholic and drug abused people etc. Creating an efficient team for handling such cases and networking with several agencies is an important strategy for resource optimization and running the project successfully.

Apart from the direct project expenses, a lot of indirect project expenses/support is provided to HIVE India by Emami Ltd. Emami Foundation provides infrastructural support like providing office space and administrative support, providing insurance to the rescue workers, volunteer support as and when required, monitoring & evaluation using their won project management resources. 

The Operational Process Life Cycle

SLK has been instrumental in providing assistance to the needy right from the time a distress call has been received in the Helpline/Control Room. On receiving the call, the rescue team reaches the spot and provides the first aid or human care to the victim or the patient, before he is shifted to the shelter home or the hospital. Thereafter, the victim is given medical support, counselling, rehabilitation and few basic necessities like food and clothes.  After a few weeks of treatment at the center, the victims are usually sent back to their family after conducting a thorough home search and a pre-restoration visit. Thereafter, they conduct constant follow-ups of their restored clients to verify that they have been accepted by their family. 

 Impacting the Masses

The success indicator of this project was ascertained by the quantum of positivity it could bring in the lives of the masses by ensuring them basic human rights and security from any uncanny risk on the streets of Kolkata. In the year 2018-2019, SLK has rescued and provided holistic support to 341 persons including rescue of abandoned children, trafficked children or women, people who have had an accident on the road and mentally ill people living on the streets. SLK has been instrumental in re-uniting 136 depressed and mentally unstable people with their families. Legal and medical support has been provided to nearly 400 people, which has brought a smile back on their faces. 36 children below 18 years were elated to be rescued and brought into the shelter homes. A lot of people have been rescued from accidents and natural calamities too. 

Along with the unfortunate masses, this project has impacted the NGOs, Government organizations, doctors and the nurses.  In the post pandemic era, this program by HIVE India has brought about a wave of change in the attitude and emotions of all the stakeholders involved. Stakeholder empowerment has inculcated a sense of responsibility and accountability in the minds of the Kolkata Police, who have been rendering services to the poor. A strong connect among the police, hospitals and the NGOs have been inculcated, which has facilitated the creation of a safety net to bring about a more sustainable living in Kolkata.

The Success Story and the Road Ahead

Regular monitoring and evaluation at every stage has helped in identifying the gaps thereby modifying the strategy to some extent.  Round the clock service and humanitarian work motivated such collaborative approaches to ensure equality and care to every section of the society. The gaps left behind by the Government have been successfully addressed by the SLK model, for which they have been felicitated too with several awards by the Kolkata Police, Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Seeing its success rate, this project has been expected to scale to other geographical locations and few more areas in West Bengal. Emergency rescue operations have been implemented by the name of “Bandhu Kolkata”. HIVE India’s initiative with Kolkata Police, Missing Person Squad and Child Line has adopted a program whereby lost children and women especially during Durga Puja, have been reunited with their families. These systems and processes are getting scaled across the country with constant support from the varied stakeholders to take the legacy ahead.

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