With the second wave of Covid cases and deaths in Chhattisgarh peaking in April, around 3000 volunteers have gathered in support of a combined Unicef-state government operation.
The “Roko Au Toko Abhiyan,” or Stop and Advice campaign, aims to raise awareness and mobilise the public in the state’s five most afflicted cities. Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Baloda Bazaar, and Rajnandgaon are the cities in question.
Thanks to the cooperation of 200 local influencers, community religious leaders, public workers, and residential representatives who gave an impelling power to the initiative, the campaign has touched up to 5 lakh individuals.
“Going by the good initial accomplishments of the volunteers, the campaign will be expanded to four more districts of Surajpur, Sarguja, Kondagaon and Narayanpur. The volunteers are mobilising the public to get vaccination while counselling them to comply with the Covid-19 appropriate behaviours for the past one month. Families affected by Covid were also supported with medicines and food,” said Job Zachariah, Unicef chief in Chhattisgarh.
To prevent spreading the illness among their family members, many of these volunteers slept in government hostels or rented rooms and avoided coming home for days.
Members of the Indian Red Cross Society, National Service Scheme, and National Cadet Corps were impressed with their efforts and joined the campaign to clarify myths about the coronavirus and immunisation while urging preventative measures against Covid.
Those who are self-motivated and eager to volunteer must fill out an online form with their information and a declaration of commitment to a social cause, which must be submitted through the Unicef site. Because the labour is completely volunteer, a little honorarium is offered as a reimbursement for the gasoline costs incurred during their field visit. Daily reports are provided for planning in the morning and review in the evening.
“Besides disseminating the importance of wearing masks, keeping safe distance, hand hygiene to combat COVID-19, our team helped and assisted the needy to access health and vaccination centres,” said Chandrakant Dewangan, the campaign field coordinator.
