Manjula Katakdhond has not cuddled or played with her seven-year-old grandson in 14 months. When she returns home at 3pm daily—after six hours of tracking Covid-19 patients, tracing their contacts, and instructing them on hospitalisation or home quarantine—she is forced to keep distance even within her own house. “My grandson never left my side earlier but now he is more attached to his mother, she has been working from home,” reflects the community health volunteer (CHV) who operates in Dharavi’s Shastri Nagar area.

Katakdhond is among roughly 4,000 community health volunteers attached to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) who have made such personal sacrifices to be on the frontlines of the pandemic resistance. Their responsibilities have swelled in recent months as cases surged and they began going door-to-door to create awareness about the vaccination programme. Their regular work has not stopped either. As an important link between primary health centers (PHCs) and the people, the CHVs continue to provide curative healthcare particularly to pregnant women and newborns.