Mumbai: Covid-19 has been the worst-ever health crisis in almost a century which brought the world to its knees. Soaring positive cases led governments to order strict restrictions on movement, compelling people to stay indoors. Hospitals ran out of beds and struggled to procure life-saving oxygen as the pandemic descended in waves.
 
Amid all this, there were organisations and groups which stepped up and lent a helping hand to people facing the worst adversities. In this hour of need, leading media conglomerate, ABP Network once again established itself as a responsible news network and came forward to support the country's battle against the pandemic.
 
As cases began to peak during the first wave in 2020, the network announced its partnership with a volunteer-based, zero-funds organisation, Robin Hood Army (RHA), and launched a special initiative ‘Senior Patrol’. The aim was to help the most susceptible and senior members of society by providing them with essentials like food and medicines.
 
“In these exceptionally challenging times, we take it as our duty to help those in dire need. We are proud to be collaborating with RHA to help the most susceptible members of society and we hope the citizens will join hands with us in overcoming these difficult times through their support," said ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey, at the time of the launch. "The network has always stood by the nation in its hour of need and created a meaningful impact in society. This is our time to step up and spread energy, enthusiasm, and generosity." 
 
As part of the initiative, thousands of volunteers began helping senior citizens across the country by providing them food, medicines, and other essentials, which they were unable to procure due to the restrictions. The volunteers remained on the frontlines and took due care to follow all the government, health, and safety guidelines along with social distancing measures to ensure safe & responsible deliveries.
 
Driven by its core purpose to create an ‘Informed and Happy Society’, ABP Network helped build support for the cause and promoted the initiative through the strength and reach of its national and regional channels inspiring more people from across the country to join the cause.

The Network’s portfolio includes ABP News (National Hindi news channel) as well as regional ones such as ABP Ananda (Bengali news channel), ABP Majha (Marathi news channel), ABP Asmita (Gujarati news channel), ABP Ganga (Hindi news channel for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand viewers), ABP Sanjha (Punjabi news channel), ABP Bihar (digital news portal for Bihar-specific viewers), ABP Nadu(digital news portal for Tamil viewers )and ABP Live, a digital news platform.
 
The anchors on its news channels used their social media handles to inform people about the initiative and helped volunteers reach every nook and corner of the country. 
 
Families were required to fill an online form (https://robinhoodarmy.com/seniorpatrol/) which carried all the necessary contact details of the senior citizens and the essentials they need, in terms of food and medicines. Once the information was submitted, the volunteers ensured the items required were made available to the senior citizens at their doorstep by the local Robins.

The network also partnered with Robin Hood Army volunteers in their pledge to fast-track COVID-19 vaccination for millions of senior citizens through the #SeniorPatrol campaign. The campaign was launched on 8 March 2021 across 150+ Indian cities. With a force of 100,000 Robins, the Robin Hood Army remained confident of serving millions of senior citizens pan-India across every neighbourhood through the Senior Patrol’s tech-enabled system.

So, whether it was supporting senior citizens with vaccine registrations on the Co-Win platform or physically bring the elderly to the vaccination centres, the volunteers did it all. Towards this end, the mobility company, Uber was also roped in for logistical support for the initiative.

Talking about the association, RHA founder, Neel Ghose, said, "We consider ABP to be a part of our extended Robin family. Outside of 200 per cent professionalism, the sheer passion and care which they put into each collaboration makes this much more than a CSR activity - but more of a joint nation building effort. We look forward to creating much more impact together in the years to come."

The network kept the viewers apprised about the pandemic updates 24x7 through its news websites in Hindi, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati, Punjab and Tamil. The media group also provided its continued support to the government to contain the novel coronavirus and the devastation triggered in its aftermath.