Fighting COVID-19 in Kondagaon through Relief and Provision

The week before lockdown (22nd March 2020) was announced, the district administration (DA) Kondagaon already begun taking necessary steps towards the bigger war against the pandemic to be fought. Though Kondagaon is comparatively thinly populated, the transmission of virus in the district from these cities could never be ruled out as the NH30 which connects the two major cities in Chhattisgarh, Raipur and Jagdalpur, passes through the entire length of the district. The DA, apart from the basic precautions like social distancing, working in shifts, availing masks, sanitisers and handwash to the officials and spreading awareness on COVID, has taken the following three major initiatives keeping in mind what the future might hold.

• Establishing Labour Relief Camps
• Manufacturing COVID protection essentials-soaps and masks
• Van DhanYojana

Establishing Labour Relief camps

The inward migration of labourers is still a better situation to handle, compared to outward migration, the reason being that the inward migrants at leasthave a home to go to in the villages after returning. However, the outward migrants neither have a roof over their head, nor have the basic necessities to live as they belong to districts or states far away. Giving a thought about this vulnerable section, the DA has established Labour Relief Camps. The labourers identified by the Labour department stay here throughout the lockdown period without having to worry about shelter, food, water or the risk of being contacted by COVID. The camps are operated in complete convergence of multiple departments (Food & Drug, Health, Municipality, NRLM, Labour).Ten such camps have been established in the district. These Labour Wards have been a ray of hope and sigh of relief to the labourers from states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and Maharashtra.

Manufacturing COVID protection essentials-Soap and masks

In the wake of the pandemic, the limited stocks and supply of masks and soaps posed as an immediate challenge. The DA came up with a model using Cluster Level Federations(CLFs) with the technical guidance from the NRLM and Food& Drug departments. Out of the CLFs in each block, one model CLF has been identified and the SHGs in that particular CLF are assigned the task of manufacturing the soaps and masks as per the demands. The demands are obtained from,

• Drug Inspector-Medical stores
• Chief Municipal Officer-Houses under quarantine
• Block & Gram Panchayat-Staff and visitors in Panchayat offices and workers in MGNREGA
• Local market-Kirana stores, provision stores
• Van vibhaag-Staff

The procurement of the raw materials is done by the NRLM through Vyaapaari Mandal (Merchants’ Association) in the district. Apart from this, any other expense incurred has been taken out of the SHGs’ revolving fund (RF) and community investment fund (CIF).

The demands are obtained on a daily basis and the production is made accordingly.

Van DhanYojana

Utilising the existing schemes to improve the situation at hand is always a better way to strengthen the system. One such scheme the DA focussed on during the pandemic was Van DhanYojana. The scheme deals with the collection of Vanopaj (forest products like imli, chaar, mahua) from the villages and procurement by the Forest department with the villager getting paid for the product s/he sells. The forest department hasidentified the following three types of collection points and also allotted an SHG to each one of them.

• Villages with considerable Vanopaj
• Local Haat/Bazaar
• Van Dhan Kendra

With minimal challenges in the accumulation of Vanopaj, the DA with great support from the Forest department has made sure that the SHGs are paid for the products they bring in immediately. This disbursement amount used to usually take longer to reach the villagers earlier. This initiativehas come in as a boonto the villagers at the time of lockdown and aid financially in this time of crisis. This model has been working the best and has brought Kondagaon as the top performer in the whole of Chhattisgarh state. 

Source : Case Studies of Combating COVID-19 pandemic in Aspirational Districts