Rural Telangana obeys rules, keeps Covid at bay

In what appears to be a serendipitous outcome, some of the government’s initiatives, particularly dealing with issues related to health and public hygiene, as well as the panchayat raj system where governance is localised and orders are normally followed by nearly everyone, appear to be helping rural Telangana in effectively combating the spread of Coronavirus and keeping the smaller habitations much safer than in urban areas.

In 10 days beginning June 17, the districts, excluding Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri, recorded 426 cases, though some of the rest of the districts have urban conglomerations such as Warangal and large towns such as Karimnagar. This pales in comparison with Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri which recorded 6,517 cases. Two-thirds of the state’s approximately 3.5 plus crore population lives in rural areas.

The difference in the number of Covid-19 cases makes the case very strong for further strengthening the panchayatraj based village development organisations and systems. “Urban areas need a similar structure and investing in such bodies is vital in the long run,” said Dr G.V. Satyanarayana Murthy, director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad. “In a village, the word of the panchayat counts. There is social pressure on everyone to follow instructions. This is absent in urban areas. A sense of ownership is very critical for fighting this pandemic,” Dr Murthy told Deccan Chronicle.

In addition to follow-therules approach, programmes like Palle Pragathi, again led by gram panchayats, have contributed to the people in 12,751 gram panchayats making public hygiene and neighbourhood cleanliness a part of their lives.

Healthcare programmes such as Kanti Velugu, Arogya Lakshmi and KCR Kits, have contributed to an increased awareness of healthrelated issues. “These programmes contributed enormously in creating awareness of health and what people can do on this front,” health minister Etala Rajendar said.

Kanti Velugu saw nearly 1.5 crore people getting their eyes screened, while more than 30 lakh plus women have registered to deliver babies at government hospital since the launch of KCR Kits.

When cases of Covid19 began appearing in villages, residents decided to impose their own lockdowns and quarantining before official orders for imposition of such restrictions were announced, Rajendar said, which too helped in controlling the spread of the disease in rural areas.