'Citizens are Not Paying Attention'

Q: What are your COVID-19 related tasks?

Block Development Officer (BDO): We have been assigned to do a lot of pandemic-related work like distributing ration, monitoring the isolation wards and ensuring that the lockdown is strictly followed in my area.

We started receiving various instructions from the district authorities, once the lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister. We had a meeting with the District Magistrate and now he is in regular touch with us via phone.

Mock drills, to spread awareness about the Coronavirus, are also being organised by the people.

Q: Are you encountering any challenges?

BDO: The government is making a lot of efforts but the most challenging part is that the citizens are not paying attention to the instructions given by the authorities and are not following the complete lockdown properly.

This interview was conducted with a Block Development Officer in Aurangabad, Bihar on 10 April 2020 in Hindi, and has been translated.