Kerala: 3 Lakh Kudumbashree Joins Hands To Tackle Potential Third COVID Wave

With COVID-19 ravaging India, community health workers are playing an important role in controlling the spread of the virus in the rural parts of the country.

With an objective to weaken the potential third wave of the pandemic in Kerala, the state may have over three lakh Kudumbashree Response Teams (KRTs) that will create awareness on dos and don'ts regarding the pandemic. The teams will be formed at the level of Neighbourhood Groups, covering 45 lakh families, reported The Hindu.

Kudumbashree, an organised workforce of women, has been working on the grassroots level to improve the standard of living for women residing in far-flung areas and implementing poverty-eradication measures.

The statewide initiative has been undertaken as a COVID Mission project. It will be a continuous project as the larger aim of the programme is to deal with any future pandemic, disasters, or natural calamities.

The team of five members would be formed by the end of July-August at all the Neighbourhood Groups. The teams will be tasked to create awareness based on scientific knowledge and extending assistance to the needy.

"This is the latest in the series of the pandemic-centric awareness campaigns being carried out by Kudumbashree. This follows 16-odd online sessions held in association with the Indian Medical Association, the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), and the Health Department and over 23 lakh calls made by our NHG office-bearers under a chain-call campaign. The latest initiative will be fully community-driven with weekly experience-sharing sessions at the grassroots-level to assess the efficacy," said Harikishore S., executive director, Kudumbashree.

Moreover, Kudumbashree is supported by the members of Kudumbashree Auditing and Accounting Society, micro-enterprise consultants, former Kudumbashree officials and former representatives. The support from these groups help the Kudumbashree workers to have a better connections with the villagers.

A strategy has been made to assess the efficacy of the programme by organising quizzes and engagement programmes such as distributing and uploading audio and video clips on all social media platforms.

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