‘Perception of people towards +ve patients disappointing’

Quote: “People attach some kind of stigma with the disease, which is very disappointing. They need to change their mentality and be sympathetic towards patients. Nevertheless, my gunmen and other staff members helped a lot during these testing times,” Hemant Sharma, DSP Amritsar Central Jail

(As told to PK Jaiswar)

When the pandemic was quickly spreading and central jails across the state were staring at the potential risk of having aplenty of cases, the Punjab Government took the decision to decongest jails by releasing inmates, facing minor charges, besides the elderly lodged in jails.

This increased the workload of the staff who worked hard to release the prisoners on bail. However, the fear of jails becoming virus clusters was not unwarranted, as soon many staff members started getting infected with the virus. DSP Hemant Sharma was one of them.

He goes on to share his experience…

“I remained asymptomatic and I was advised home isolation, but it was very difficult to keep myself stress free and motivated during the quarantine period. When you have young children and elderly people with you, there is always a fear of them catching the virus. Though, my other family members including my mother (65) and aunt (68) fortunately tested negative, I started living in a separate room on the third floor. My wife, SP Tarn Taran Richa Agnihotri was also advised home isolation. My 2-year-old son was staying with her. “Even after living in the same house, I did not meet my son.

“In order to keep myself motivated, I remained involved in physical activities. I used to do workout in the morning besides doing yoga and meditation. I believe keeping yourself stress free and physically active is the mantra to defeat the virus.

“However, what was disappointing during the period was the perception of people towards Covid patients. They attach some kind of stigma with the disease, which is very disappointing. People need to change their mentality and be sympathetic towards patients. Nevertheless, my gunmen and other staff members helped us a lot during these testing times.

“The policemen and doctors were working as frontline warriors and this should be respected.”