IMPRI Team
The panel discussion was focused upon the conditions of the Indian villages and to share the insights and experiences of the practitioners located in the respective locations. The panel discussion is a part of an expansive series of discussions themed upon the rural realities of Indian villages in the face of the second wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The discussions are organized by the Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi on the 15 May 2021.
The program was commenced by the Assistant Director at IMPRI Ritika Gupta. Followed by which were the opening remarks from Dr. Simi Mehta Editorial CEO at IMPRI. The speakers were introduced and the foreground was laid for the conversation to begin in regards to the ground reality of the villages in the states of Jharkhand and Bihar in the Second Wave of the COVID Pandemic from the eyes and experiences of the practitioners.
Focused Government Intervention
The other panelist Ms. Smita Singh, International Health Promotion Expert; Doctoral Researcher at Indian Institute of Technology, Patna stated that it is important to deal with the second wave of the COVID-19 with a social and behavioral science perspective. In continuation she said that the preventive measures must be taken seriously and the need for the government to invest rightly into the cause.
In this sequence, it is also necessary to honestly assess the efforts made by the government, regarding COVID. So that we get to know about our failures and work in that direction by making our strategy, only then there will be some hope in this truly horrifying situation.
In this context, she said that social, cultural and practical aspects will have to be discussed in detail and this disaster can be reduced to some extent by showing social and emotional support in this scene of tragedy.
In this direction, people will have to strongly improve the manner of wearing masks, timely hand hygiene, following physical distance and taking vaccination etc. and also make aware of their scientific health benefits. Therefore, on these aspects, it becomes the personal and social responsibility of all the citizens of the country to play the role of a leader by showing the spirit of cooperation, coordination and welfare from their respective level and fight this global pandemic at the grassroots level.
Fight boldly with your small but necessary efforts.
