Helpline flooded with distress calls from starving families

LAHORE:

The Punjab Police Helpline 15 has responded to 242 families desperate because of hunger during the past 16 days.

A resident of Panju village near Lahore, Khalid, called the helpline on Wednesday and threatened to take his own life because of starvation.

A police spokesperson said a Model Town Industrial Area official delivered ration to the called.

A similar incident had earlier taken place in Begum Kot. Official data shows that the police have provided ration to 15 families daily on average.

The helpline had received the first such call on August 21 in Vehari.

The data showed that 17 calls had been received in Lahore, 23 in Okara, 22 in Rawalpindi, 20 in Rahim Yar Khan, 18 in Layyah, 15 each in Dera Ghazi Khan and Gujranwala, 11 in Faisalabad, 10 each in Muzzafargarh and Multan, eight in Lodhran,  seven in Vehari, six in Attock and five in Sheikhupura.

The helpline also received calls from starving families in Jhang, Khanewal, Mandi Bahauddin, Bahawalpur, Sargodha, Kasur, Jehlum and Bahawalngar.

IG Usman Anwar said that the police had provided ration from their own resources to the distressed families following the spirit of community policing. The public service would continue, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2023.