Assam’s Sarathi 104 helpline number has not stopped ringing ever since Assam recorded its first Covid-19 positive case and found that the source was one of those who had attended the religious congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi.

After the first case in Assam came to the fore in Karimganj district in Barak Valley on Tuesday, the state government launched a massive manhunt to trace the whereabouts of the people who had attended the Delhi event. That’s when Sarathi 104 came to the rescue.

People from across the state started dialling 104 to share the possible whereabouts of those from Assam who attended the congregation as well as to alert the authorities about people who might have attended the religious function but were not on the government’s list.

Though initially it was suspected that nearly 300 people from the state may have attended the meet, later it was found that the numbers could exceed 500.

Applauding the efforts of the helpline team, health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted, “The helpline centre, which has the capacity to take 6,000 calls a day, has crossed all barriers. It surpassed 9,000 calls up to 10pm on Thursday. My gratitude to all the dedicated staff of 104.”

The tweet by Sarma praising the Sarathi staff (Twitter)

Sarathi officials said since the health minister appealed to the people to call 104, calls haven’t stopped coming in even for a minute. Numerous calls came from villagers and even from the relatives of many of those who didn’t disclose after returning that they had attended the Delhi event.

Pomi Baruah, nodal officer of 104 helpline project, said, “Our team has been working tirelessly round-the-clock. We have also added strength to our human resource to address the situation. Many of the callers were also given medical assistance and counselling by our experts.”

The helpline officials counselled people, asking them not to be scared of Covid-19 but to cooperate with the authorities to cure it. They convinced many to come out of their stigma and take proper medical help.

Sarathi 104 is a one-stop health information helpline for resolving all health-related issues of the state’s citizens in a time-bound manner. It has qualified and well-trained paramedics, counsellors and doctors. It empowers the citizens of Assam to get authentic and standardised medical advice from skilled medical professionals, including prescriptions through SMS on mobile phones. It also collects information from rural health workers on epidemics and outbreaks and passes it to the government for appropriate response.

Since it started in 2010, Sarathi has received over 1.46 crore phone calls, including 2.22 lakh calls in 2019-20.

Sarma said, “Unlike many other states, Assam has had the facility for long and the people are aware of it. That’s why there has been such an enormous response to the helpline.”