Smartphone condition hinders door-to-door mapping project
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab health department’s much ambitious door-to-door community surveillance project to contain Covid-19 has hit rough weather at the onset as lowly-paid ASHA workers are struggling to arrange ‘latest smartphones’ for updating data on the government app in real time.
The household survey, for the time-being, has been launched in urban slums of Mohali district and rural areas of Patiala district but has not been able to pick pace.
As most accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers earn ₹2,000-3,000 per month, they rue that all of them cannot afford smartphones with particular specifications, a prerequisite for the purpose.
As per the orders, an ASHA worker will cover 25 families daily and be paid ₹4 per household. Thus, maximum an ASHA worker can earn in a day is ₹100.
In the household survey, which ASHA workers and other volunteers (government has also roped in anganwadi workers) have to complete, the health status of a person will be updated in real time through the app. Those found symptomatic will be tested for Covid-19.
“The department is playing a joke on us. The officials expect all of us to have latest smartphones for a work which we will earn ₹100 from in a day. The department officials say the activists can borrow phone from family members or relatives in case they don’t have their own. Can a family member or a relative spare his or her phone for entire day?” says
Kirandeep Panjola, state president of ASHA Workers and Facilitators’ Union. She says either the department should hike the payment for the job or provide tabs or mobile phones to the workers.
There are around 28,000 ASHA workers in Punjab whose services are taken for carrying out surveys and mapping of ailments.
A health official said the survey has hit the roadblock as all ASHA workers don’t have the smartphones with particular specifications to update the data properly.
The June 4 order of the health department to all civil surgeons says that in places where ASHA/ anganwadi workers are not available or are unable to use the mobile app, other volunteers may be engaged for the job.
“The volunteer should have own mobile phone and comfortable in feeding data directly on the app,” reads the order. In different orders last week, the health department also asked community health officers, pharmacists, rural pharmacists and nurses, AYUSH doctors and rural medical officer to fill the proforma of RT-PCR testing online through the phone-based app.
“I had bought an expensive smartphone two years back. I had to free space to upload the RT-PCR app and still it’s not working properly. I asked my department for technical help and officials told me that we need to have latest smartphones,” said a rural medical officer.
Director, health and family welfare, Dr Avneet Kaur, was not available for a comment. Health minister Balbir Sidhu said he has not received any complaint regarding the issue so far.