When the second wave of COVID-19 was washing over many elements of the nation, seven villages in Haryana’s Sirsa district remained untouched. Makha, Musli, Budhimedhi, Dhani Satnam Singh, Dogra Wali, Modi, and Joriya — which shouldn’t have greater than 5,000 folks every — adopted primary practices and cooperated of their small solution to hold the virus at bay.
As an example, not a single particular person from Makha village ventures out with out a masks, whereas cops have been rampantly penalising folks for violations elsewhere within the Sirsa district. Makha sarpanch Veerpala Kaur proudly says that innate self-discipline has utterly stalled COVID-19 of their village. “There isn’t a single case in our village. It was doable due to adherence to 3 issues — carrying a masks, consideration in direction of sanitisation and social distancing. And the outcomes are proper in entrance of you,” she stated.
Kaur added that the panchayat held many dialogues with the villagers over prevention. “The panchayat conferences had been performed by following social distancing norms. We determined to stall weddings and different public gatherings,” she stated. The villagers’ sense of social accountability made the implementation simpler.
Guidelines and cooperation
Sarpanch Kaur’s brother, Harchej Singh (38), made temporary clips on COVID-19 consciousness and circulated them on social media. The villagers cooperated with the initiatives. They requested their kin to not go to their village. “Furthermore, the villagers kept away from travelling out. If an individual needed to go away for essential work, he/she would quarantine himself/herself upon returning. The measures weren’t adopted as a consequence of stress from a person, however out of respect for the choice taken for the general public good,” he stated.
He added that the villagers consider in holding a social promise. They’ve excessive regard for the choices taken by the panchayat, and thus, they observe them ardently — they really feel it’s their social accountability. “Villagers come to know when an individual violates the rule. Such an individual is then socially boycotted and loses belief,” Singh stated.
Folks from Budhimedhi village weren’t allowed to attend public gatherings or journey to mourn a relative’s loss of life. In case they needed to journey, they must quarantine upon returning. The medical doctors would check them. Such an individual may solely return dwelling as soon as he/she examined unfavorable. Budhimedhi’s residents cooperated with each such regulation. “Consequently, there has not been a single case,” stated village sarpanch Sukhbaj Singh.
Musli village resident Singh Chima stated that individuals weren’t visiting the mandi throughout the lockdown. Since many greens are grown within the village, the residents determined to distribute them amongst themselves. “There have been two benefits to this case — folks didn’t must step out for greens, and the home-grown produce was not spoiled. A couple of folks from outdoors who come to Muslim to promote greens didn’t arrive as soon as they realised that we had been self-sufficient,” he stated.
Small hurdles to cope with
Making all people observe the protection ideas got here with their difficulties. Sarpanch Kaur of Makha village stated that the villagers are staunch followers of traditions and observe a strict schedule, which they don’t wish to disrupt. “COVID-19 had began altering folks’s routines,” she stated.
The sudden change has been unimaginable for Makha’ senior residents like Ramnivas Sharma. Earlier than COVID-19 confined him to his dwelling, he would spend his day together with his pals in baithaks. “Folks of my age would collect within the morning and have interaction in banter all day. Tea, snacks, and lunch could be served in our baithaks. We wouldn’t return dwelling till late. With COVID-19, issues modified drastically. We felt imprisoned in our properties. It was weird at first. However, we obtained slowly used to it,” he stated.
Sharma added that staying at dwelling had its advantages. “We, senior residents, grew near our youngsters as we spent plenty of time with them for the primary time. Now, time flies. It feels as if I’ve wasted numerous time up to now within the firm of hookah, when a greater a part of life is at dwelling,” he stated.
Sirach Sukhabaj Singh of Budhimedi Village from Sirsa deemed funerals probably the most tough to manage. In his village, when an individual dies, folks collect in assist and solidarity. “COVID-19 didn’t enable any such gatherings. We bolstered the choice by permitting solely the household to attend the ultimate rights. When an individual handed away, we questioned if the virus was accountable. The samples had been despatched to native authorities hospitals. The outcomes at all times returned unfavorable,” he stated.
The nice phrase
Sirsa Deputy Civil Surgeon Buddh Ram lauded the seven villages for his or her method and self-discipline. “They stayed freed from the virus when the pandemic was gathering momentum in rural areas. Their strategies will be seen as a mannequin for stopping COVID-19,” he stated.
Social organisation community Youth 4 Change’s director, Rakesh Dhul, stated that such self-discipline is exemplary because it comes from the sector of Sirsa, which is protesting towards the farm legal guidelines.
“The villages have began a non-cooperative motion with the federal government. And nonetheless, these seven villages have proven a lot restraint and self-discipline and prevented COVID-19 altogether. If different villages undertake Sirsa’s strategies, COVID-19 will be evicted from rural areas. Sirsa’s residents haven’t solely prevented themselves from hurt however have imparted a lesson,” he stated.
(The writer is Chandigarh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India community of grassroots reporters.)
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