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With the unpredicted spread of Covid-19 second wave in a lightning speed, the role of frontline worriers/workers at the community level gets multiplied. Observing the aggrieved situation, the Government of Odisha has declared special incentives mentioning that “As ASHAs monitor home isolation cases, they will be provided one time assistance of ₹10,000 for bicycle, cupboard, slippers, umbrella and torch. Sarpanches continue to have the powers of district collectors in enforcing lockdown. Also, ₹10,000 per GKS (Gaon Kalyan Samiti) will be sanctioned for undertaking COVID related activities at village level involving the community”.

However, the ground reality says, ASHAs are serving the community without proper protective equipment along with pulse Oximeter and infrared forehead thermometer with a hope to receive the declared incentive sooner or later. Here the point is, how can ASHAs & AWWs will do door to door survey, without adequate protective preparedness? Besides, ASHAs and AWWs also need volunteers’ support for driving awareness campaign, mobilising tribals for RTPCR test & taking vaccination and monitoring of home quarantines.

To address the above issues, CYSD has joined hands with Kolnara Block administration including CHC/PHCs. After intensive discussions, it was concluded that the AWWs, ASHAs, ANMs along with Volunteers must have N95 face masks, hand Gloves, sanitizer, and soap in adequate quantity to carry out the above activities. Additionally, each frontline worker should have one Oximeter and one infrared forehead thermometer to deal with the situation.

Accordingly, CYSD as part of its obligation towards the  community,   provided hygiene kit (N-95 Mask-1, Surgical Mask-10, Face Shield-1, Hand Glove -2, Sanitizer 100 ML-1, Soap-4) along with Oximeter-1, infrared forehead thermometer-1 to all AW workers, ASHAs, & ANMs of two GPs – Suri & Dunduli, mainly dwelled by Kuvi Kandha tribe in Kolnara block of Rayagada district. Apart from that, a technical orientation was provided to all frontline health workers on the use of oximeter & infrared forehead thermometer in respective Panchayat office premises.

Mamata Himirika, an ASHA worker of Patraput village in Dunduli GP says, “I belong to Kuvi Kandha tribal community, but my community is still having superstition to take the vaccine to fight against COVID-19. Many thanks to CYSD for providing me shield support, like hygiene kit, health equipment and volunteers to help protect my community at this critical hour”.

Abhi Himirika, the Sarapanch of Dunduli GP says, “I have been given collector’s power by the state Government, but in reality, the social mobilisation role played by CYSD is noteworthy. They are motivating people to get vaccinated as the preventive measure as well as providing timely needed support to my people in the Gram Panchayat. Now I am confident that each and every one in my Gram Panchayat is safe and secured”.

The second wave of COVID-19 that started early this year is seeing a downward slope.  Odisha being one of the most competent state in tackling the COVID situation in the country, has put numerous pro-people efforts to pacify the wave.

The State unlike others in the country, avoided religious gatherings. Election rallies that were to happen in different parts of the state in the month of March were immediately cancelled as many parts of the country recorded large number of cases.

However, the period that followed saw hundreds and thousands of cases across the state with the virus penetrating into the rural pockets with inadequate health infrastructure. Districts like Khordha, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda recorded the highest number of cases during the period with many parts of Western Odisha being one of the worst hit due to the second wave.

Civil Society Organisations across the state had a huge role in extending adequate support to people from different sections of the society. From extending hygiene kits in the community to migrant workers to arranging food and shelter for urban homeless and orphan children with the support of government local bodies, CSOs also provided mental health counselling sessions through experts.

Later, in the month of May when the cyclone ‘YAAS’ hit Odisha amidst the second wave, the government and CSOs joined hands to fight it together. Coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak were on high alert due to the cyclone. The state effectively evacuated people of the area following COVID guidelines and took special care of pregnant women with the help and consultation of civil society organisations. Almost 300 babies were born in the state on the day of the cyclone.

The government was efficient in preparing for maximum number of medicines, hospital beds, ventilator and oxygen cylinders required in the second phase. Strict lockdown measures have been imposed to control the rising number of cases. CSOs have been instrumental in assisting health-workers, executing required programmes and spreading awareness on the ground. Numerous CSOs in the state like CYSD have also extended protection gears, oxygen cylinders and other important equipment to fight COVID in the community.

Support, cooperation and coordination between the government, the civil society organisations and the people of the state have been successful in dragging the COVID graph down.

After battling depression, loneliness, joblessness and pay cuts for the last one year since the Covid-19 pandemic, people had just begun to relax. They were expecting some respite from the threat of Coronavirus this year, but the second wave has dealt an even harsher blow to them.  Many poor innocent fellows like, Kumara Nayak succumbed to Covid-19 leaving his last breath within the clutch of the deadly virus.

Kumara is no more with us – is just unbelievable! A young man of 46 years, housekeeping- sweeper in profession was no less than a Covid Warrior. Keeping office floors cleaned and sanitised with his charismatic hands always used to bring freshness in office premises. His doubled obligation to ensure proper cleanliness and hygiene hardly allows him to take breathing space. While at work in early morning, Kumara’s smiling face offers a pleasing welcome to rest of the staff members.

Kumar, being a low paid daily wage earner was struggling for a sustained livelihoods. Additionally, he was earning some money through driving a hired auto-rickshaw on reservation basis in leisure hours. He was managing a four-membered family – wife Rina (homemaker), a young daughter of 17 and a son of 12 years. Daughter ‘Kaberi’ has completed High School Certificate Examination and could not pursue higher education due to father’s loss of job during first phase of Covid and son ‘Krishna’ is continuing his 7^th Std. Despite the impact of Covid, Kumar was managing to keep his family happy.

Kumara never thought of that his auto-rickshaw service will one day take his life by carrying a Covid positive patient to hospital and leave his family in complete darkness. He struggled hard to survive. Financial crisis and fear of stigma around his residential colony at Mangala Nagar, Salia Sahi slum (Jayadev Vihar) under Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation constrained him to expose about his infection. He could have survived if proper medical care or simple medication was given early or CYSD staff members could have been informed regarding his positive case.

Losing their father both the children are speechless and wife has gone to deep psychological depression. They are not yet ready to accept the fact that their only bread earning member is no more to offer them a full square meal. Schooling for two impoverished children will be a day-dream now. Can Rina be able to feed her children at this harsh Covid pandemic situation? She fears, in case her children will sleep empty stomach in coming days.

In the morning of 22nd May, Minakshi Panda, a member of the tele-medicine team of the Citizen’s Support Centre (CSC) received a phone call. A woman named Menaka Pradhan from Kalyanpur of Khurda district was on the other end asking for help. Menaka’s husband Bijaya was ill and the family was unable to receive any support from neighbours and others in the village suspecting him as Corona patient. Finding no other way, Menaka reached out to CSC for help.

After listening to her carefully, Minakshi understood that Menaka’s husband had symptoms of COVID-19. He was suffering from fever, cough & cold for last three days. Immediately Minakshi connected her with Dr. Soumen Roy, the medical practitioner. The doctor prescribed her the required medicines and assured that her husband would recover soon.

The prescription details were also sent to her by the CSC telemedicine team and the team took regular updates from Menaka on her husband’s health status for the next 5 days. Dr. Roy was consulted thrice as Menaka and her children started showing mild symptoms as well. The family was closely monitored by the telemedicine team and the right medicines were prescribed by Dr. Roy for them.

On 27th May, Menaka & Bijaya without anxieties informed the CSC that they were free from Covid symptoms. “It is indeed a rebirth of our family”, said Menaka while paying their sincere gratitude to the CSC Team for helping them during such crisis.

“I am fortunate and feel proud to be a part of CYSD’s Covid Response Team to protect the community. I am fully oriented on how to fight against Coronavirus while serving the community. The Health Administration should take us in to their confidence and use our power and art of mobilisation, as we know the local Kui-language. Through our collective efforts and courage, Coronavirus will certainly disappear from our communities and from our region too” says Murali Kadraka, who is committed to devote his full time for mass motivation.

“Our community people show their strong resistance for taking the Covid vaccine because of fear of psychosis. The reason being, if anyone is found Covid positive, the health personnel will take him/her away from our community during night; put the patient in an unknown hospital and not allow relatives to stay with the patient; and finally without giving any medicines the doctor will declare the patient is dead (as we see in TV). Thus, my community does not have faith on doctors,” shared Nageswar Haraka, a Community Volunteer from Rekhapadar Village of Kolnara Block, Rayagada without any hesitation.

Nageswar says that due to lack of proper housing tribal people stay thickly in one room. They don’t know the practice of isolation. If the health administration will come to our community and conduct home visits and test each people, then the spread of Covid can be checked. A concerted effort is needed at this critical hour and people from all sections of the society should join hands to fight Covid pandemic together. Realising the gravity of the situation and after CYSD’s intervention the tribal people are slowly coming forward to take vaccines.

Debjeet Sarangi, a leading development and environment activist based in Odisha, breathed his last on May 15 at a Bhubaneswar hospital. He was only 53 at the time of his untimely death.

In a relatively short time, Debjeet had made very important contributions relating to justice, environment protection and evolving a new development paradigm. His contribution to looking at tribal communities living in remote areas from a perspective of appreciating and understanding their world view and learning from them has been particularly commendable, as many of those working with tribal communities do not go beyond well-intentioned but limited attitudes of help and patronage.

Debjeet grew up with a strong sense of justice which was cemented further when he came in contact with a village where most of male residents   had died due to silicosis or tuberculosis after exposure to high levels of dust and other hazards at a stone mine. He also worked with the Narmada Bachao Andolan for some time before forming the Living Farms organization. The work of Living farms relating to organic and natural farming won a lot of praise from several quarters.

In the course of this work the production of healthy and safe food was emphasized and while links were forged with urban consumers also, the  better availability of more healthy and organically grown food for rural people themselves also got the due attention.

The least understood but very high nutrition potential of several foods collected from forests traditionally from natural forests was also emphasized and also highlighted by properly documented studies which contributed much to the knowledge of bio-diversity and nutrition. This obviously had important implications, as the existing official policy had been displacing natural forests with commercially oriented monocultures in many places without realizing the great loss of medicinal and nutrition potential, particularly for local communities , apart from wider harm.

The  work of Living Farms with the Kondh tribal community of Rayagada, Odisha, was also important from this context as this community was being threatened with displacement from highly  unjustified and destructive projects and it was important to bring out the less understood importance and value of the traditional systems involving close, even sacred, links between natural forests and human beings which are of great value and on which the life systems and value systems of the Kondh community are based to a large extent .

Debjeet Sarangi had the vision needed for such understanding. He contributed to this understanding himself and helped to create the conditions in which other visionaries and learned people could have a better chance of such appreciation and learning.

I had the good opportunity of visiting some villages, urban settlements and schools in around Bhubaneswar where Living Farms had been working. I was greatly impressed with the great rapport which the activists of Living Farms had built with the teachers and students of some schools in a short time with the result that there was not only great appreciation for organic farming but in addition students were enthusiastically taking this up in vacant spaces in school and preparing to take up composting as well, relating to disposal of kitchen wastes generated from the cooking of mid-day meal. In a village I could see the quiet but deep commitment of women for organic farming and healthy food, and their great zeal to take this forward in very creative ways. In urban and rural areas very creative work relating to kitchen gardens was being spread.

Certainly the work of Debjeet Sarangi was along very creative and visionary lines, and much that is very valuable has been lost very suddenly with his untimely death. His family, friends and colleagues will no doubt strive to carry forward the work of this visionary, and they should get all the help and encouragement in this effort.

With the objective on how effectively the Residence Welfare Associations (RWAs), Senior Citizens’ Associations (SCAs) of Bhubaneswar and Odisha CSOs can join hands together with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC); and set up of a collaborative approach to deal with the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic crisis, CYSD played a critical role in bringing these multi-stakeholder actors into a common platform virtually on 16^th May 2021.

The virtual meeting was moderated by Shri Jagadananda, the Co-founder & Member-Secretary of CYSD.  Addressing the virtual meeting, the Commissioner of BMC Shri Sanjay Singh welcomed the citizen leaders of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and appealed for the need of a multi stakeholder approach to overcome the pandemic crisis. Shri Singh, with the presence of his Zonal Deputy Commissioners, apprised the current strategy, issues and problems on the ground and the steps taken by the Municipal Corporation so far to deal with the challenges.

The CSOs leaders / representatives including NGOs; RWAs and SCAs offered their willingness for active assistance and articulated their feedback and suggestions as per the following heads:

Effective Vaccination is the need of the hour

• Vaccination drive is on force to protect the citizens from the on-going pandemic. The vaccination centres under BMC is becoming crowded and chaotic. To avoid the large number of crowd at one place, more number of vaccination centres may be formed.
• The Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) are ready to support the BMC officials in getting the list of eligible persons for vaccination. Simultaneously, the crowd management can also be effectively done by the volunteers of RWAs in their respective areas.
• Door step vaccination need to be provided to the persons with disability as they find it difficult to reach the specified vaccination points.
• Prior information on vaccination may be provided to the citizens through RWAs to make it more effective as well as to avoid vaccine wastage, if any.

Strict regulations for the essential shops is of utmost important

• With the imposition of lockdown, the vegetable and fish markets are becoming overcrowded as it closes by 12 noon every day. To minimise the crowd and to regulate the social distancing norm, instead of large markets/haats small vending zones may be formed by blocking main roads of different areas.
• The timing of the essential shops may be alternated to 6 AM to 10 AM and 3 PM to 5 PM.

Special attention is required towards slum dwellers, orphan children, migrant workers and construction workers

• With the wake of 2^nd wave of COVID 19 pandemic, the slum dwellers and construction workers are out of work. Some social protection measures may be planned to protect their livelihood.
• The urban homeless and orphan children have become the most vulnerable section particularly during the ongoing pandemic. The provision of food and shelter is of utmost important which is taken care of by some NGOs. To address the issues of homeless and orphan children, the CSOs have offered to join hands with BMC, wherever necessary.

 Provision should be made to initiate special cells at BMC

• A senior citizen cell as well as a cell for person with disability may be formed to pay attention towards the special issues all through the pandemic.

Formation of web portal and/or mobile app

• A dedicated web portal or mobile app may be designed to update the availability of beds at the COVID care hospitals; a critical need felt by one and all.

Activation of Ward level citizen group

• Ward level COVID 19 response committee which was active during 1^st wave of pandemic may be re-activated in each ward.

Mental health of COVID 19 infected persons and their families need to be taken care of

• The ongoing pandemic has created new issues and problems among the COVID 19 infected persons and their family members. To minimise the level of stress, mental health counselling sessions are being offered by CSOs: the need for coordinated action between CSOs and BMC was highlighted.
• While at hospital, the anxiety and trauma of infected persons is making their situation worse. Virtual counselling and stress free services were articulated as critical need beyond the treatment.