Maharashtra's youngest sarpanch keeps his village Covid-19 free; says micro-management is key

Implementation of a fivepoint programme and inculcating a sense of responsibility among people was the mainstay of various measures undertaken by Ruturaj Deshmukh the youngest sarpanch in Maharashtra and his task force to rid their village in Solapur district of coronavirusMaharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in his virtual address to the people on Sunday had lauded Deshmukhs contribution and appealed to all sarpanchs in the state to draw inspiration in the battle against the pandemic while announcing My Village Corona Free initiativeThe Ghatnevillage of which Deshmukh 21 is the sarpanch has a population of 1500 The village had not reported any Covid19 cases from March 2020 to April 2021But in the first week of April we had two Covid19 cases but both the patients died This triggered panic and many people started leaving their homes to live in their farms he recalled on MondayAt this stage Deshmukh said he decided to involve all stakeholders and create awareness about fighting coronavirusMy mantra was to be positive in outlook with confidence that we can keep our village free of coronavirus Deshmukh told PTI over the phoneTalking about the efforts the sarpanch said he and his team framed a fivepoint programme involving tracing testing treatment vaccination and adherence to Covidappropriate behaviourMoreover ASHA Accredited Social Health Activist workers were roped in who visited every house in the village to check the blood oxygen level and body temperature of its occupants he saidThe villagers whose blood oxygen level is found to be below 92 are shifted to either isolation centres or to Covid19 Care Centres in Mohol taluka which is 4 km away from the village he saidSimultaneously corona safety kits comprising a face mask hand sanitiser disinfectant and vitamin tablets were supplied to the peopleA steam machine was kept at the gram panchayat office which can be used by anybody in need he addedDeshmukh said residents who have to travel outside the village for work are randomly tested while outsiders coming to the village are quarantined for three days and made to undergo a Rapid antigen testTo inculcate discipline in people police personnel were deployed in the village to ensure that the pandemic norms are followed and those found without a face mask were finedSince April 15 coronavirus positive cases were detected in our village out of which two died The village has now become coronavirusfree but the campaign continues with the help of ASHA workers he addedDeshmukh also underlined the challenges in the form of lack of awareness among people and general hesitancy about Covid19 testing in rural areas There is no mindset for testing in villages he saidHe flagged the shortage of vaccines as the biggest hurdle in rural areasWhen asked about the CM praising him Deshmukh said The chief minister may have mentioned me in his address but local political opposition remains There is no difference at the political opposition at the state level or village levelIn his view micromanagement will help eradicate coronavirus in villagesWhen asked about his future course of action Deshmukh said preparations are on to tackle the projected third wave of the pandemicGhatne gram panchayat is planning to set up a 20bed isolation centre and a paediatrics task force with two doctors in the village I also want to make Ghatne the first fully vaccinated village in Solapur district with the state governments help he saidDeshmukh said the proposed isolation centre will be also accessible for patients from other villagesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever