E-Paper
Leg injury doesn’t stop govt worker from carrying out Covid-19 health surveys
Kumari, whose husband died 15 years ago, slipped on a puddle near her home in a slum near Lalit Bhawan towards the end of March. However, this did not dissuade her from conducting a door-to-door Covid-19 health survey initiated by the Bihar govt in April.
Vimla Kumari, a 46-year-old anganwadi worker (AWW) found herself at the centre of much Twitter love on Monday when the District Magistrate of Patna in Bihar, Kumar Ravi, tweeted a photograph of her at work. Clad in a white sari with a red border and wearing a hair net, face mask and gloves, Devi stood with a survey questionnaire in hand. She also sported a cast on her left leg.
“This one deserves special mention. ICDS team reports that even after having broken leg AWW Vimla Kumari of Patna Town is working and doing survey in her assigned neighbourhood area on her own. Great level of dedication and commitment towards her work,” Ravi tweeted.
Kumari, whose husband died 15 years ago, slipped on a puddle near her home in a slum near Lalit Bhawan towards the end of March. However, this did not dissuade her from conducting a door-to-door survey initiated by the Bihar government in April to check for respiratory distress and influenza-like illness which are associated with symptoms of coronavirus. Using a stick to help her walk, Kumari visited at least 380 houses in the slums near the office of the Bihar Public Service Commission and later, the slum adjacent to Patna Electricity Supply Undertaking — where she resides — from April 16 to May 3.
“I realised if I take leave and stay home, people in my area will suffer. Given the adverse circumstances because of the coronavirus pandemic, I decided not to leave my people when they needed me the most,” she said.
Kumari, accompanied by an auxiliary nursing midwife, would set out each morning at 8 am and visit at least 25 households everyday till noon.
A resident of a one-room shanty, Kumari has three children — a 23-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 22 and 18, who are pursuing their studies. She receives a monthly stipend of Rs 5,650 and her job is to ensure that the government’s social welfare programme reaches every beneficiary.
“People in my area trust me. They will not allow any AWW other than me to administer polio drop or any other vaccination to their young children. It is a question of trust. I knew if any other AWW was drafted in my place to survey the area, many people may have been left out of the survey,” she added.
“Vimla was adamant to work, despite our willingness to grant her leave,” said Patna district programme officer Bharti Priyamvada, who is with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), an arm of the social welfare department.
“She is a very active, dedicated and responsible worker who has never shied away from any responsibility entrusted upon her. She is not scared of any adversity too. In fact, I had granted her leave, but she did not avail of it,” said Renu Kumari, a child development project officer.
The survey, which was earlier confined to only four districts of the state of Bihar has now been extended to cover all 38 districts. Already seven, including Begusarai, Gaya, Nalanda and Siwan, have been completed. “The initial part of the survey, which was to map those who had come from abroad in March, is over. We are now keeping an eye on the migrant workers who are coming into the state capital. We expect to complete the exercise by mid-May,” said the DM.
Of the 170 million houses surveyed since April 16, 3,819 people were found to have symptoms of fever with cough and shortage of breath. Bihar has recorded 541 cases of coronavirus with four deaths reported so far.
