Covid-19 spawns unfulfilled expectations in hinterland
With Covid-19 spreading to the rural areas, Jayapur residents say no senior health official has visited their village where the impact of pandemic has been “mild”
JAYAPUR (VARANASI): Residents of Jayapur, the village in Varanasi district that Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted in 2015 under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, alleged that no senior official of the health department had visited them to take stock of the current Covid-19 situation here. The village has a population of about 5000.
The saving grace for them was that Covid-19 had a relatively mild impact on the village, they added.
Chandrashekhar Verma, a farmer, said, “Only a few people tested positive around a fortnight ago. They isolated themselves at home and most of them have recovered. The remaining few are on the road to recovery.”
Dr Ajit Maurya, medical superintendent of the Jakkhini community health centre (CHC) about two kilometres away, said 14 people tested Covid-19 positive in Jayapur. They remained in home isolation and were given medicines, he said, adding that a mobile health team observed them. While 11 of them have already recovered, three others are expected to do so in the next two or three days.
Nathuram Patel, another resident, said four locals aged over 70 years, suffering from fever and respiratory diseases, died in the third week of April. All of them had taken medicines for age related diseases and two had bronchitis, he added.
Patel said their Covid tests were not done and, hence, it was not known whether they had the Covid-19 disease.
Asked if Covid medicine kits were distributed in Jayapur, Patel said, “No, I haven’t got any Covid kit. Had it been distributed, I would have got one since I remain present in the village.” Verma and other locals backed his claim.
On the other hand, Dr Maurya said a team was sent to Jayapur two days a week and over 200 tests were done.
“At the same time, people who have symptoms of Covid may visit CHC and get their RT-PCR test done here,” he said.
The village does have a health sub-centre but it is locked at present as the ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife), who was initially meant to be on duty here, has been deployed at the Jakkhini CHC.
The health sub-centre was built in 2018. It has a labour room and an OPD (outpatient department) room for patients with general ailments.
Dr Maurya said the ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife) deputed to the sub-centre was currently on duty at Jakkhini
CHC where Covid vaccination and RT-PCR testing was being done and patients were attended daily. Covid medicines were given to the symptomatic people, he added.
Chandrashekhar Verma too said the sub-centre remained closed at present. In case anyone took ill, he visited Jakkhini CHC, he added.
The villagers said the current state of affairs was in contrast to the situation about six years ago when the village was adopted by PM.
A number of officials visited the village around that time, and it got many facilities as PM Modi ensured them, they said.
Locals said two branches of Union Bank of India and Syndicate Bank had come up in the village then. It also got a post office and an e-library.
Over two dozen union ministers visited the village between 2015 and 2018, they said. But the situation had changed a lot now
and senior officials of the health department did not visit the village to take stock of the situation, the locals alleged.