UTTAR PRADESH: It's 3.00 am. Ashish Mishra is still up and working hard to answer phones and give directions. He works with UP Police as a constable. However, what he is doing at this time goes much beyond his job-related duties. His goal is to make blood available to individuals in need through his programme, Police Mitra, which he started five years ago.
‘Police Mitra’ is working overtime as a result of the spike in dengue cases across the state and the sharp increase in blood demand. With more than 1,000 volunteer members spread out around the state and extremely active social media profiles, it is helping hundreds of people in need and saving lives.
For Ashish, it all began with a moment that changed his course in life. Additionally, it was an effort to improve the perception of men in uniform. Mishra, a resident of Mirzapur, is a member of the IG Police’s Prayagraj range social media team. Since its creation in February 2017, “Police Mitra” has been used to save over 1,500 lives and is operational in over 18 states.
The 31-year-old officer had always been a socially concerned officer. Five years ago, he was affected by events that took place in temples. He witnessed a woman sobbing uncontrollably when she was praying one beautiful morning in February 2017 while he was visiting a well-known temple in Prayagraj.
He learned that she had lost her sick son because she had not been able to get blood in time. The incident never left him. He struggled to focus at work. As luck would have it, he came across another incident a few days later. This time, it was a son who refused to give blood to rescue his dying mother.
He told TNIE, “I witnessed a man who was unwilling to donate blood for his own terminally-ill mother arguing what was the need when she was going to die anyhow. I was in a hospital to see a relative at the time. “I considered aiding these desperate folks because I felt so disturbed and powerless,” he said.
He started organising a group of willing blood donors right away, and they soon reached out to patients in need of blood. It was quickly given a formal structure in “Police Mitra,” with the aid of senior officers and the then-IG Prayagraj, KP Singh.With a small beginning, the group got bigger and bigger with its yeomen service. Its working is now totally mechanised.“We work through our website and bring together donors and patients. Both of them get a text message each when the donor is identified and fixed,” he says.
Although the presence of the group is in the entire state and outside, it’s more active in Prayagraj and adjacent police ranges like Mirzapur, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Lucknow, etc. “Although we try to extend our services whenever there is a need, we feel more in control closer home,” Mishra says.
It has held several blood donation camps to date, but the high point for the group was a mega camp during Kumbh 2019 in Prayagraj. “In all 250 units of blood were donated by cops, devotees and even saints during the camp. While Mishra himself goes for regular blood donations, he has also inspired his seniors and colleagues to join the mission. His former boss KP Singh would donate every three months while his present boss, Rakesh Singh, goes out of the way to help him.
During initial days, Ashish would make it a point to go for blood donation in uniform. “I would do it deliberately to explode a myth that policemen can’t do anything good, which unfortunately was the notion among common people,” he says. He is also on a mission to explode misgivings about blood donation.