Roshan Jacob: Kerala-born IAS officer was at the forefront of pandemic management in Lucknow

On April 17, Kerala-born IAS officer Roshan Jacob took over the administrative duties as Lucknow's District Magistrate and Special Officer incharge of COVID management (Lucknow), at a time when the city was suffocating under the bloating second COVID wave. Collectively, 2,37,858 individuals have been affected by the virus in Lucknow and the major proportion of these infections, were witnessed during the months of April and May.

The city was reeling under a major COVID crisis, when this IAS officer had undertaken the arduous task of ridding the city of the pandemic's stranglehold. Now, Jacob's assiduous efforts have reaped a hefty chunk of respite from infections in the city.

Jacob's tenure of handling a pandemic & panic!

Earlier last week, Roshan Jacob abjured her reigns as Special Officer incharge of COVID management (Lucknow) to resume her duties as the Director of the Mining Department, after almost one and a half months of strategising and implementing various containment measures for the virus. Her tenure has awarded Lucknow with a steep downward trajectory, which highlights almost 6,000 cases on April 17 and the contrasting tally of 53 infections, as of today.

Jacob's taking-the-bull-by-the-horns demeanour paired with expeditious initiatives to bridge the gaping holes in the needs and demands of the patients along with the residents during the second COVID wave, has paved a path for others to observe. Formulating Rapid Response Teams, ensuring bed availability amid acute shortage, streamlining bed allotment, offering medical kits to asymptomatic folks, augmenting medical teleconsultation services, are some of the many enterprises by her.

The precarious scenario also didn't daunt this bureaucrat from pulling up at medical establishments to check their live bed status and it is because of Roshan, that all the private hospitals are now charging the patients a fair fee, unlike earlier. The officer also scraped the mandatory rule of producing a letter from the CMO for admissions in private infirmaries, which had led to several people succumbing to COVID while awaiting admission.

Against a background of an array of such strides by Roshan Jacob, handling the oxygen crisis in the district also stands out. In coordination with the Home Department, Roshan regularly monitored oxygen tankers in real-time and also kept a check on O2 wastage by hospitals and necessary steps were speedily undertaken in line with the reports.

'Roshan' living up to her name!

Jacob Roshan's first administrative role was of a Probationary IAS Officer in Jhansi and as per her over 17-year-long career map, she has served as the District Magistrate of Bulandshahar, Basti, Gonda, Kanpur and Rae Bareli. Presently, Roshan Jacob is UP's Special Secretary and Director of Geology and Mining- the first woman of the state to hold this position. Under her guidance, last year, UP stood as the first region in the country to commence mining activities amid a lockdown.

Reaching the point of empty beds from the previous 6-7 hours of wait-time at hospitals in just a few weeks, is also another coup that is credited to Roshan Jacob's ramp of accomplishments. An embodiment of determination and inspiration, Roshan has emerged as one of the torchbearers of female empowerment, cracking down stereotypes and setting up new milestones.