Counselling sessions start to tackle COVID-19 stress
Kolkata: South 24-Parganas administration has started counselling sessions to reduce anxiety and stress related to COVID-19 outbreak.
The free counselling service is not just for people of Bengal stranded in different parts of the country but also for any citizen who is feeling anxious, depressed or helpless at home during the three-week-long lockdown.
"We have started the counselling session for people of our state stranded in different parts of the country due to the shutdown. We have some trained counsellors (from social welfare & hospital) and special educators (from Sava Shikha) who are talking to migrant labourers on phone and counselling them. Many of the migrant labourers are feeling confident after such sessions," said Dr P Ulaganathan, District Magistrate of South 24-Parganas.
"We are also connecting them with their family members and ensuring full safety and security. This tele-counselling is being done in two shifts. About four counsellors and eight special educators are working round-the-clock to counsel them. We are also maintaining details about the sessions in a separate database," he added.
While 7,114 people from Bengal are stranded in other states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, a team of 10 professionals and trained volunteers are scanning messages sent in by people in need and offering them text-based psychological counselling as well as the option of support via video and voice calls.
"We have a list of phone numbers of tourists and migrant labourers from our state who are stranded in different parts of the country. We are calling them up to take stock of their situation. Anyone who wants any type of counselling or help should call at our toll-free number 18003452020. Our counsellors will help them via voice calls and WhatsApp. The other numbers are 033-24795029/09/30/94," said an official.