The coronavirus pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure and demands on leaders in the government and beyond. The humanitarian toll of COVID-19 has created fear and anxiety, along with a host of new issues for citizens across India. In Bengaluru, B.PAC has been at the forefront of fighting these novel problems and difficulties caused by the pandemic. Along with its relief efforts, the B.PAC has been instrumental in realising the potential of civic leadership in the city. The B.PAC’s civic leadership initiative known as
B.CLIP – the Civic Leadership Incubation Program
has aimed to promote a culture in which citizens are encouraged to become deeply involved in the political process and even contest municipal corporation elections. The program intends to equip talented, civic goal-oriented individuals of the city with skills in public policy analysis, municipal administration and strategy while at the same time supporting the goals of the individuals. Through this initiative, B.PAC aims to give citizens who wish to make positive change in the city a platform and support.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, B.CLIP proved its worth as a program by equipping citizens capable of providing relief efforts to the tens of thousands affected by the deadly virus.
B.CLIP civic leaders have become essential in the fight against COVID-19
in the city as the frontrunners in
COVID relief work done by B.PAC
relief efforts carried out by B.CLIP leaders involved distributing grocery kits, food packets to vulnerable communities, and medical resources such as face shields and PPE kits to hospitals and other key workers. COVID-19 fundamentally changed primary aspects of human life and the way we function as a society. With this came new, unprecedented issues that needed innovative and novel solutions.
To cater to this need, the B.CLIP civil leaders altruistically stepped forward to help their fellow citizens. One such leader is Doctor Sunil Kumar Hebbi, otherwise nicknamed the “doctor on wheels”. Dr Sunil, a resident of Bangalore hailing from the village of Mamadapura, has been an exemplar of a leader using resources to the best of their abilities to cater to the needs of at-risk citizens innovatively amidst the pandemic. Coming from a small village, Dr Sunil understood the plight of not having access to medical facilities and treatment, and so he devised a way to reach patients who could not reach him or a hospital. For this, Dr Sunil would travel around the city in his car after finishing his shift in a local hospital and provide free medical services to citizens with mild COVID-19 symptoms. As of May this year, B.CLIP leader Dr Sunil was able to treat over 200 patients.
Dr Sunil is just one of the several leaders B.PAC has endorsed through the
B.CLIP program during the pandemic.
B.CLIP leaders have been the backbone of COVID relief work done by B.PAC. Furthermore, these leaders have played an imperative part in conducting the recent vaccination drives organised by B.PAC over the last two months. As part of the relief work, B.CLIP leaders have reached many marginalised and underprivileged, lower-income communities in Bangalore. This program has proved to be vastly beneficial in tackling the aftereffects of the coronavirus pandemic in the city.
