This village in Maharashtra is COVID-19 free, thanks to its youngest sarpanch

Mumbai, June 01: Implementation of a five-point programme and inculcating a sense of responsibility among people was the mainstay of various measures undertaken by Ruturaj Deshmukh, the youngest sarpanch in Maharashtra, and his task force to rid their village in Solapur district of coronavirus.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in his virtual address to the people on Sunday had lauded Deshmukh's contribution and appealed to all sarpanchs in the state to draw inspiration in the battle against the pandemic while announcing "My Village Corona Free" initiative.

The Ghatnevillage of which Deshmukh ((21) is the sarpanch has a population of 1,500. The village had not reported any Covid-19 cases from March 2020 to April 2021.

"But in the first week of April, we had two Covid-19 cases but both the patients died. This triggered panic and many people started leaving their homes to live in their farms," he recalled. At this stage, Deshmukh said he decided to involve all stakeholders and create awareness about fighting coronavirus.

"My mantra was to be positive in outlook with confidence that we can keep our village free of coronavirus," Deshmukh said.

Talking about the efforts, the sarpanch said he and his team framed a five-point programme involving tracing, testing, treatment, vaccination and adherence to Covid- appropriate behaviour.

"Moreover, Asha workers were roped in who visited every house in the village to check the blood oxygen level and body temperature of its occupants," he said.

The villagers whose blood oxygen level is found to be below 92 are shifted to either isolation centres or to Covid care centres in Mohol taluka, which is 4 km away from the village, he said.