'Received Sanitisers, Masks but not Gloves'

Q: Are people in the community now cooperating with you for survey, test or for any other information? Are you still visiting households like you were in April?

ASHA: People in the village are cooperating in the survey now; most belong to my community, and some are related. They are also taking the necessary precautions and following the guidelines.

I am conducting surveys in at least 10 households a day.

Q: Are you getting any incentive to do this part of the job?

ASHA: Yes, we have recently got the receipt for the month of March. Now, we have to submit a form along with the receipt in the Block office, after which we will get a sum of Rs 1,000 for the month of March.

Q: Did you get any safety kit for household visits like mask, gloves, sanitiser etc?

ASHA: We received sanitisers and masks in the month of April but have not yet received gloves. All these items are essential for us when we visit households.

Q: How has your work changed with the lifting up of the lockdown and easing of restrictions? Is your primary focus still on COVID-19 tasks or are you back to routine work?

ASHA: Our primary job is still to keep a track of people who are reporting back to the Block office on COVID-19 symptoms. However, vaccinations have begun this month after being halted last month, so there is hope of getting back to our routine jobs soon. Instead of pregnant women coming to the centre, now we visit the households for vaccination.

Q: Have you received any training on COVID-19?

ASHA: No, but the ANM gave us information on an informal basis.

The interview was originally conducted with an ASHA in Jaipur, Rajasthan in Hindi on 13 May 2020, and has been translated.

Source: DNA