IMPRI Team
In continuation with the ongoing discussions on the Rural Realities around the country, the Centre for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi and Orissa Economics Association, Odisha organised a Panel Discussion on “Rural Realities | Odisha Practitioners’ Experiences in Tackling the Second Wave in Indian Villages” on May 15, 2021, as the second wave of coronavirus pandemic is engulfing the length and breadth of our country, India, and hitting the heartland of our country which is the rural areas.
Both the Positive & Negative Condition of the State
Ms Swapnasri Sarangi, Regional Co-lead- East, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), said that Odisha has a surplus of oxygen supply even so much that it has been supplying oxygen to other Indian states. Odisha is also the first state to talk about the global tender to get vaccines to vaccinate as many people in the state as possible. The chief minister also declared to add another 5 kgs of rice to the PDS scheme. Most of the districts have dedicated covid hospitals which are managed and supported by big MNCs though it has fewer units.
She further says that even the ASHA workers who help the rural people, themselves are not fully aware of the covid symptoms. They are not even provided with PPE kits and basic medical equipment, so how they are going to know the extremity of the situation of the people who shows symptoms of covid. When it comes to the vaccine, people in the rural areas either don’t have access to the internet or don’t know how to use the Cowin website, hence, the majority of the rural people are unable to get vaccinated. In the rural area, not only virus exist but taboo also exists.
Ms Swapna Sarangi said that people should voluntarily come up to spread the word regarding vaccination and save the lives of people in rural areas. One should make sure that people can access the infrastructure and get benefitted out of it.
