MIANWALI: A truck driver, Adam Khan, was coming from Karachi with a truck loaded with goods for Rawalpindi when a number of police personnel signalled him to stop at Ikram Shaheed Chowk.

Thinking that he would be issued a ticket, he was surprised to know that police had intercepted him to give an Iftar hamper and a wish for a safe journey.

In the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown, there is no public transport on the roads and as a consequence, roadside hotels are shut. However, trucks and private vehicles and cars still ply on the roads to leading to go to Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Their drivers and riders don’t find any food or drinks at the time of Iftar.

An initiative has been launched by Mianwali SP Hassan Asad Alvi to provide the travellers with food and drinks to such drivers and families for Iftar on the roads.

He floated the idea before his subordinates to provide Iftar hampers to travellers who approved it.

SP Alvi says the police staff has supported the initiative by giving donations from its salaries. Since the start of Ramazan, police have been distributing Iftar hampers on the roads and he is determined to keep the initiative going until the end of the holy month.

Anwar Khan, a truck driver, tells Dawn he has been driving vehicle for the last 20 years across Pakistan and has had many bitter experiences with the police. His almost every encounter results in the giving gratification or getting a ticket. The noble gesture by Mianwali police is something new for him.

Apart from the truck and car drivers, rickshaws and motorcyclists riders who are on the road at the time of Iftar are also provided with the food packages.

To boost the morale of his subordinates, especially those performing duty at the entry and exit points of the district to keep a check on coronavirus patients movement, the SP visits each check post daily and has Iftar with the personnel.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2020