IMPRI Team
This panel discussion was related to the working experiences of various professionals especially in the wake of the second wave of COVID in Indian villages. It was organized by the Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS) and “Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi” on 20th May 2021 by the joint efforts of “Parmarth Sevi Sanstha” (Uttar Pradesh). This discussion was another episode of the “Panel Discussion” being organized by the institute for all the states of the country, whose central point should be the rural reality of the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and the issues related to it.
This program was initiated by Ritika Gupta (Assistant Director) of “Institute of Impact and Policy Research”. Dr Simi Mehta (Chief Executive Officer and Editorial Director, Impact and Policy Research Institute) while preparing the background for this panel discussion, while welcoming all the visitors said that the goal of this is to find out by presenting a proper discussion. What is the present status of the second wave of COVID in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and what are the efforts being made at the ground level by various stakeholders in this regard?
The list of eminent panellists who mainly participated in this panel discussion is as follows- Dr Smt. F. Kazmi (Executive Director, NGO “Parvarish Child Development & Health Care Institute”), Dr Sanjay Singh (Waterman of Bundelkhand, Secretary, Parmarth Samaj Seva Sansthan), Dr Yogesh Kumar (Founder Member & Executive Director, Support – Development Assistance Centre), Shri Devi Das (Farmer MG, Support), Ms Abha Sharma (Director, Judav Foundation, Bhopal), Shri Bhupesh Tiwari (President, Fellow Social Service Organization, Chhattisgarh). Mr Rakesh Paliwal (Retd. Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) and Mrs Anjali Noronha (Fellow, Eklavya) and Dr Anshuman Karoli (Lead – Local Government, Priya, (PRIA) New Delhi) etc.
First of all, Ms. Abha Sharma (Director, Judav Foundation, Bhopal) while congratulating the entire team of Impact and Policy Research Institute and sharing her thoughts said that we have corrected the time between Phase I and Phase II of Covid. Made a huge mistake in the assessment, as a result of which there was a sudden increase in the number of cases of infection and death of this global epidemic.
Another reason for this was also that we showed delay and inaction in taking many management and policy decisions while showing laxity towards this epidemic. In this context, the states have lost their state human resources on a large scale in the grip of this menace by not properly calculating the reality and magnitude of health crises.
Also, health management remained at the lowest level due to a lack of medical facilities, such as medical buildings, non-availability of staff, etc. Apart from this, a large number of Covid infected cases were seen in every household in the state, but the situation became challenging due to a lack of accurate government data and delayed policy decisions.
In the same sequence, due to the non-availability of proper address and numerical proof of migrant workers and unemployed, the state’s maximum youth population of 30-35 age group is falling victim to this health malformation, so collective efforts are needed in this direction. urgently needed.
Drawing attention to another challenge related to vaccination, she shared that this vaccination process is being misused. Giving examples of this, he said that the difficulty and ignorance regarding registration of people in the villages has violated the health rights of the villagers by providing access to the people of the city to the vaccination centres set up for the villagers.
Also, when questioned in this matter at those health centers, the medical staff made another revelation saying that there is still a trend of reluctance among the villagers regarding vaccination. So how to address this problem is a serious question.
In the end, Ms. Sharma, in collaboration with her organization “Judaav Foundation” and other voluntary organizations, shared about the COVID relief work being done in the state distribution of 20,000 N5 masks during the last 3 months, protective measures to the frontline workers etc.
Creating awareness etc.) and other efforts (the work of building confidence among the rural people about vaccination in the areas of Bastar of Madhya Pradesh and the remotest block of Udaipur of Rajasthan by the team, Providing ration kits and medical facilities at community health centers – ensuring availability of oxygen etc.) and shared personal experiences (how she got Dr. Sridhar’s medical help in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh).
At the same time, she suggested taking initiatives based on a decentralized system to the religious gurus and patwaris (a patwari or lokhpal is a village level officer in the revenue department) in the direction of increasing awareness about vaccination.
Simultaneously, keeping in mind the risk of the coming third wave of COVID, the doctors of the state were also concerned, citing the need to be vigilant towards the children of the state.
