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HT Salutes: ‘My boys are scared, but I cannot say no to work; it needs me’
HT Salutes: In the fight against the contagious Covid-19, public servants have been working round the clock, sometimes even breaking the clock, to keep the wheels of the government moving. Here, we take a look at those knocking on doors, serving the underprivileged, ensuring everyone has a mask, and even readying a hospital
Her teenaged sons entreat her not to go to work, but 40-year-old Ranjita Vimal, an Accredited Social Health Activist (Asha) worker, turns down their emotional pleas every day.
Vimal is part of the Delhi government’s surveillance team for Covid-19 in the Central Delhi district. “My boys are scared because they love me. But I can’t say no to my work; it needs me right now,” Vimal said. “I wear my pink coat and step out every day to do my duty.”
For the last few days, she has been conducting door-to-door surveys in the densely populated Sadar Bazaar and Nabi Karim areas — two of the 30 containment zones declared so far.
The survey teams have been asked to collect information on people in the area, their contact details, and check if anyone is showing flu-like symptoms. “It’s not easy to extract these basic details. In some places, we face resistance. We have to spend a lot of time to convince them to share these details,” she said.
For instance, in Chamelian road in Sadar Bazaar, a family refused to share information. “They wanted us to provide ration, as they had nothing to cook at home. To win their trust, I told them about the Delhi government’s policy to give ration to needy people. I also told them about the nearby school where they can go for meals. It is only then that they shared the details,” she said.
At another area, Vimal said she and her co-workers were threatened. “It was scary as 40-50 people told us not to come in a colony. Thankfully, a few people came to our rescue. Many think we are surveying for the National Population Register (NPR). We have to show our ID cards to show we are the Covid-19 survey team,” she said.
Every evening, she gets a message from the area’s District Surveillance Office about the area she and her co-workers have to cover the next day. They screen around 150-200 houses daily. “The workload has increased, and so has the risk. All we can do is take precautions,” she said.
The risk increases in containment zones, as chances of large number of people being infected by the contagious disease are higher. Every evening, her family keeps a bucket of hot water, and sometimes food, ready before she reaches home. “I go straight to the bathroom. I wash my clothes,” she said. “The work is tiring, but it is very important.”
