Covid 19 laid bare the fragility of our health sector, especially in providing urgent health services in the rural areas. As the country limped back to normalcy after two brutal Covid waves that almost collapsed the health system because of the sheer number of cases, urgent revamping of the health sector in all areas was taken up on a high priority basis, laying especial emphasis on the remote areas.
West Singhbhum district in Bihar is similarly taking proactive steps to improve the health facilities in the remotest parts of the district. In a recent development, auxiliary nurse midwifes (ANM) in Chaibasa have been provided with electric scooters for the ease of movement.
At present, 281 out of 342 health sub-centres in Chaibasa have been provided such e-scooters. Indian Masterminds spoke to Deputy Commissioner of Chaibasa, West Singhbhum District, Mr. Ananya Mittal, to get more details.
THE NEED
Explaining the initiative, Mr. Mittal said, “While the district was going through the vaccination stage, we found out that we were unable to reach the remote areas on time. At that time, we even had the ANMs and sahiya sathis, but difficulties were faced in reaching the interior areas. As there were various contingency funds available with us, we thought of planning a sustainable way to provide mobility to these health workers at the field level.”
Hence, in consultation with the concerned officers and feedback from the field staff, it was decided to procure e-scooters and provide them to ANMs in the district.
SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY PLAN
“Last year, a plan was drafted to provide 180 e-scooters in 342 health sub-centres so that health services can be taken to remote areas in an ecofriendly way. There are no extra expenses for petrol. The scooters can be charged on normal plugin points at home. Moreover, these scooters do not require any registration or driving license like other vehicles. We have 281 e-scooters at present which are being used by the ANMs and 111 by the sahiya sathis to provide health services,” Mr. Mittal informed Indian Masterminds.
Many corporates and specialised agencies were invited to join this initiative, and they came forward and helped to implement this plan. Around 30 organisations were contacted to provide funds for procurement of electric scooters. Mr. Mittal said, “In the beginning, five scooters were procured and after getting a good response, big companies like Tata and HSBC were the ones who contributed with the most e-scooters.”
BENEFITS
Talking about the benefits of the initiative, Mr. Mittal said, “The e-scooters provided to the sahiya sathis are GPS enabled, which will further help in increasing access to the people living in remote areas. Till now, as the villages are scattered in the district, these health workers used to visit each village after a long gap. This issue will be solved now, and faster health amenities will be provided to people. Apart from this, they will now have space to carry health equipments along with them.”
With this e-scooter initiative, the officer is trying to ensure easy and fast availability of health services in the remotest areas of the district, to turn the government slogan, ‘health for all’, into a reality.
