Even as a second wave of COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in rural areas of Rajasthan, where the state government has imposed a lockdown since May 24, a gram panchayat is only recognized for its success in keeping the deadly virus at bay. Attracting attention. Four positive cases have been reported this year.
The credit for this achievement goes to a campaign started by its sarpanch Shakti Singh (43) and his team of 100 youth in Kaliawas gram panchayat of Asind sub-division of Bhilwara district. He is hard to remember, wearing the same white T-shirt with Singh’s big face on it. Singh is the District Vice President of BJP and was earlier an office bearer of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He had unsuccessfully sought a ticket from Asin to contest the last assembly election.
The volunteers are businessmen, farmers, teachers and even some government employees of the Gram Panchayat. Singh said the T-shirt is a kind of ‘curfew pass’ which sets him apart from other people living outside and around. Those wearing distinctive T-shirts are immediately identified as those deputed for COVID-19 duty.
Ever since the government imposed a weekend curfew (Jan Anusandhan Pakwada), the team has been working round the clock to contain the spread of coronavirus in three villages and a 8,000-inhabited gram panchayat.
Singh and his volunteers conduct house-to-house surveys in villages every day, taking precautions like wearing face masks and using sanitisers, spreading awareness among residents about COVID-19 prevention guidelines, monitoring of symptomatic cases, etc. do report. District administration, maintaining population records and providing assistance to the needy people.
Singh said, “So far we have been successful in containing the spread of coronavirus in the gram panchayat. So far only four persons have been tested positive for coronavirus in the entire region this year. The situation was worse last year when 54 people had the infection.
The sarpanch said that he and three other members of his family were among those infected last year and stayed in the house for more than 15 days. “We somehow survived and that’s when I decided to do whatever I could to save the people of my villages from the infection,” he said.
anti-corona squad
When asked about the campaign to contain the spread of coronavirus in the villages, Singh said, “We have formed five-member teams of volunteers. Each team is assigned specific tasks like patrolling the boundaries of the gram panchayat in eight-hour shifts to prevent people from entering villages without a health check-up and to ensure that the guidelines are issued by the rural government. Strictly follow the rules, which includes wearing a face mask. Maintaining social distance. “
Volunteers prevent more than three persons from entering temples at a time and prevent more than four people from attending funerals in case of death in villages. They also ensure that people handling dead bodies wear PPT kits.
Singh has converted his car into an ambulance to transport infected persons in case of emergency, and his farmhouse into a quarantine center for those who have the virus but do not have enough space for isolation in their homes. They have created a WhatsApp group involving volunteers, gram sevaks, health workers and other important functionaries to facilitate communication and take decisions.
Besides arranging medical equipment like oximeters and thermal scanners, volunteers distributed face masks and sanitisers free of cost to residents in all wards of the gram panchayat.
Whether it was arranging food for the needy, coordinating medical staff, or ensuring that people follow social distancing, Singh became the go-to person for everything related to pandemic crisis management in the gram panchayat Huh.
The volunteers also discourage villagers from stepping out of their homes unnecessarily and gathering in public places. They have painted benches set up near public places like panchayat buildings, tehsil offices and parks with oil and black to deter people from gossiping and have started imposing a fine of Rs 500 on public smokers.
Singh said that volunteers are also rendering their services in villages adjoining Kailas Gram Panchayat. He said that when a COVID-19 patient died recently in Jetpura area of nearby Paldi gram panchayat, volunteers helped in performing the last rites of the body following the protocol related to the pandemic, Because the relatives of the deceased were living in Bangalore and could not come. lockdown.
Fear of side effects of vaccination
Singh said the biggest challenge was persuading people to take vaccines against the coronavirus. He said that initially people feared that the vaccine could have side effects and even cause death. He said that to set an example and reduce people’s fear, he and his family members first took the vaccination shot and this encouraged many villagers to get the vaccine.
“We inspire people by saying that those who follow government guidelines will get work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and those who violate it will face social boycott in their villages. Our efforts yielded results and now many people are coming forward enthusiastically to join our campaign,” Singh said.
barrier of superstition
Singh, who is a graduate, also took steps to stop superstitions coming in the way of preventing the spread of coronavirus infection. He has announced a fine of Rs 5,000 on people resorting to superstitious practices like black magic or going to a quackery doctor for treatment of COVID-19.
His team of volunteers is also making daily announcements in every colony of the villages, urging people to stay away from superstition and seek medical help in case of infection. “A team of doctors is visiting villages every day. People are urged to consult the medical staff in case of any health issue,” Singh said.
Bhilwara District Collector Shiv Prasad M Nakate lauded Singh’s campaign model against the spread of coronavirus and said, “The state government encourages the participation of public representatives in the fight against coronavirus. The grassroots workers, especially sarpanches, have helped our gram panchayat-level core committees to ensure compliance with the COVID-19-related guidelines issued by the state government, which are in containment zones, door-to-door -Door health surveys help to implement medicine. Kit distribution and vaccination campaign. Shakti Singh has played an important role in this struggle.
– Look at the horizon. with inputs of
(The author is a Udaipur-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots journalists.)
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