Pink help desk for women devotees at Puri temple

Bhubaneswar: Puri police on Friday launched a ‘pink help desk' at the Jagannath Temple to bolster security arrangements for women devotees. The service will begin from Sunday."The Shree Jagannath Dham receives thousands of daily visitors, including women and children. The facility is aimed to ensure their protection, ease and comfort. The primary objective of the dedicated desk is to provide prompt support to women devotees in distress and safeguard them against any form of harassment," Puri SP Vinit Agrawal told TOI.The help desk will be operated by six specially trained female constables. SP Agrawal held a detailed orientation session on Friday to outline their duties.Though incidents of harassment of women are not frequent at the temple, the pink help desk was set up as a precautionary measure, the SP said. The decision was influenced by the substantial influx of devotees, particularly women."The facility will offer guidance, immediate aid to women devotees in need, professional assistance during any difficulty, collect visitor feedback and grievances, and liaise with local police stations or patrol vehicles when required," Agrawal said.Through the help desk, the feedback-driven approach seeks to create an accountable and public-oriented police service, police said. "Daily visitor responses will help improve the temple's services and facilities. It will contribute significantly to ensuring a safer and more dignified pilgrimage experience at the shrine," the SP said.