Assistance
to those in need, a ban on gatherings, fines for superstitious practices and other efforts prevent the spread of
infection in&nbsp;Kaliyawas&nbsp;gram panchayat. Udaipur: Even
as the second wave of COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in the rural areas of
Rajasthan, where the state government has imposed a lockdown since May 24, a
gram panchayat is drawing attention for its success in keeping the deadly virus
at bay, with only four positive cases having been reported this
year.<o:p></o:p>The credit
for this feat in Kaliyawas gram panchayat in the Asind sub-division of Bhilwara
district goes to a campaign launched by its sarpanch Shakti Singh (43) and his
team of 100 youths. They are difficult to miss, they wear identical white t-shirts with Singh's face splashed large on them. Singh is the district vice president of BJP and previously an office-holder in the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He had unsuccessful sought a ticket to contest from Asind in the previous assembly elections.&nbsp;The volunteers are&nbsp;businessmen, farmers, teachers and even some government employees from the gram panchayat. The&nbsp;T-shirts, Singh said, are a kind of 'curfew pass' to differentiate them from others who are out and about. Those wearing the distinctive T-shirt are instantly recognised as people deputed for COVID-19 duty.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ever since the government imposed weekend curfews (Jan
Anushasan Pakwada), the team has been working round the clock to prevent the spread
of coronavirus in the gram panchayat which has three villages and 8,000 residents.<div class="embed-container" align="center"><img src="https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/inpic/2021/6/101RPT943478/sarpanch2.jpg" id="972166" title="" style="width: 100%;"></div>A Covid checkpoint to ensure that those entering the village are masked and don't show signs of infection (Picture courtesy: Sohail Khan)<o:p></o:p>Singh and
his volunteers, taking precautions such as wearing face masks and using
sanitisers, conduct door-to-door surveys in the villages every day, spreading
awareness among the residents about the guidelines for the prevention of COVID-19,
reporting symptomatic cases to the district administration, maintaining records
of the population and providing assistance to those in need.<o:p></o:p>Singh said,
“So far we have been successful in preventing the spread of coronavirus in the gram
panchayat. Only four persons have so far been tested positive for coronavirus
in the entire area this year. The situation was worse last year with 54 persons
contracting the infection.” <o:p></o:p>The
sarpanch said he and three other members of his family were among those infected
last year and had stayed in home isolation for more than 15 days. “We somehow
survived and that was when I decided to do whatever I can to protect the people
of our villages from contracting the infection,” he said.Anti-corona squad<o:p></o:p>Asked about
the campaign to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the villages, Singh said,
“We have formed five-member teams of volunteers. Each team is assigned particular
tasks such as patrolling the boundaries of the gram panchayat in eight-hour shifts
to prevent people from entering the villages without health checkups and ensuring
that the villagers strictly follow guidelines issued by the government,
including that of wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.”<o:p></o:p>The
volunteers also prevent more than three persons from entering the temples at a
time and more than four people attending funerals in the events of deaths in
the villages. They also ensure that people handling the dead bodies wear PPT
kits.<o:p></o:p>Singh has also
converted his car into an ambulance to transport infected persons in case of an
emergency and his farmhouse into a quarantine centre for people who have
contracted virus but lack enough space for isolation at their homes. He has
created a WhatsApp Group comprising the volunteers, gram sevaks, health workers
and other important functionaries to ease communication and making decisions.<div class="embed-container" align="center"><img src="https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/inpic/2021/6/101RPT943478/sarpanch3.jpg" id="972167" title="" style="width: 100%;"></div>An isolation ward in Kaliyawas village meant for those who can't quarantine at home, manned by volunteers (Picture courtesy: Kshitiz Gaur) <o:p></o:p>Besides
arranging for medical equipment such as oximeters and thermal scanners, the
volunteers distribute face masks and sanitisers free of cost to the residents in
all wards of the gram panchayat.<o:p></o:p>Whether it
is arranging food for the needy, coordinating the medical staff, or ensuring
that the people practice social distancing, Singh has become the go-to person
for everything related to the pandemic crisis management in the gram panchayat.
<o:p></o:p>The volunteers
also discourage villagers from venturing out of their houses unnecessarily and
gathering in public places. They have smeared benches installed near public
places such as Panchayat Bhavan, Tehsil Office and parks with oil and black paint to prevent
people from sitting on them for gossip and started imposing Rs 500-fines on
people indulging in public smoking. <o:p></o:p>Singh said
the volunteers were also lending their services to villages adjacent to Kailyas
gram panchayat. He said that when a COVID-19 patient died recently in Jetpura
area of the nearby Paldi gram panchayat, the volunteers helped in cremating the
body following pandemic-related protocols, as the relatives of the deceased were
living in Bengaluru and could not arrive because of the lockdown.Fear of vaccination side-effects<o:p></o:p>Singh said the
biggest challenge was to convince the people to take vaccines against coronavirus.
He said that initially, the people were afraid that the vaccines could cause side-effects
and might even lead to death. He said that in order to set an example and
mitigate the people’s fear, he and his family members took the vaccination
shots first and it encouraged many villagers to receive the vaccine. <o:p></o:p>“We
motivate the people by saying that the persons who follow government guidelines
will get work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA) and those who flout them will have to face social boycott in their
villages. Our efforts brought results and many people are now enthusiastically coming
forward to join our campaign,” Singh said.<div class="embed-container" align="center"><img src="https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/inpic/2021/6/101RPT943478/sarpanch4.jpg" id="972168" title="" style="width: 100%;"></div>A sign warning that outsiders caught within village limits will be fined Rs 5000 (Picture courtesy: Kshitiz Gaur)Hurdle of superstition<o:p></o:p>Singh, who is a graduate, also took steps to stop
superstitions coming in the way of preventing the spread of coronavirus
infection. He has declared Rs 5000-fine on people resorting to superstitious practices
such as black magic or approaching quacks for treatment of the COVID-19. His
teams of volunteers have also been making daily announcements in every colony
of the villages, urging people to desist from superstitious practices and
instead, seek medical help in the event of infection. “A team of doctors is visiting
the villages every day. People are urged to consult the medical staff in case
of any health issue,” said Singh.Bhilwara
District Collector Shiv Prasad M Nakate has hailed Singh’s campaign model
against the spread of coronavirus and said, “The state government encourages involvement
of public representatives in the fight against coronavirus. Those working at
grassroots levels, especially sarpanchs, have helped our gram panchayat-level
core committees to ensure compliance with the COVID-19–related guidelines issued
by the state government by helping in enforcing containment zones, door-to-door
health surveys, medicine kit distribution and vaccination drives. Shakti
Singh has contributed significantly in this struggle.”



























































— With
inputs from Kshitiz Gaur<o:p></o:p>