Kolhapur health workers brave difficult terrain to give vaccines in remote Maharashtra village, video goes viral

A group of ASHA workers walked on foot through thick jungle to remote Dhangarwada village in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, as part of “Har Ghar Dastak 2.0” campaign and Diarrhoea Control Fortnight.

Screengrab from the video where health workers can be seen struggling to find a foothold in the gushing streams(Video Credits: PR Naik, Health Assistant)

Written by: Atikh Rashid

4 min readPuneJul 15, 2022 06:50 AM IST First published on: Jul 14, 2022 at 04:43 PM IST

A group of health workers from Kolhapur in Maharashtra braving their way through muddy water-filled streams surrounded by thick forest were caught on a cell phone camera by one of the workers and has since gone viral on social media, attracting much praise for the workers and their dedication to their duty. The video showed three women workers struggling to find a foothold in the gushing streams and clutching each other’s hands while holding onto the vaccine boxes.

Although they were identified as a group of ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers on social media, the group that braved their way to a remote hamlet in Ajara taluka of Kolhapur district on Monday (July 11) comprised other health officers as well.

Dr Farooque Desai, District Vaccination Officer, Kolhapur, told The Indian Express that the team was heading to Dhangarwada village under Harapawade panchayat to conduct Covid vaccination programme, and provide medical supply as part of the Diarrhoea Control Fortnight.

“We are conducting Covid vaccination drive in the district for those who were left out as part of the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ programme of the Union Government. The team visited the village on Monday,” said Desai.

However, the team was not able to administer Covid shots as some of the villagers were out in their farms. They were able to give routine vaccination doses to two kids and provided diarrhoea material to seven families. There are about 20-25 households in the hamlet with a population of about 125.

The health team comprised Arogya Sahayyak P R Naik (who shot the video), Arogya Sevika Dipali Govilkar, ASHA worker Rekha Durgude and attendant Shanta Jadhav from Pernoli sub-centre of Badhwan primary health centre.

Govilkar told The Indian Express, “Dhangarwada is 8 km away from our centre. So we first drove to Navalkar Wadi till the road ended. From then, we walked on foot uphill through the thick jungle.”

“We started at 8 am and as we were going up we were not deterred by the rain and other trouble. We were all enthusiastic about the goal – vaccinating the kids. The return journey became even more difficult as it was raining heavily. We started by 3 am, and it was difficult to walk. As you can see in the videos, there was an angry stream gushing with full energy. We were also afraid of wild animals. We could not wait for the rain to stop. If the nullah near Navalkar Wadi had overflown we would have been stuck for days. When we came back most of us had no footwears,” Govilkar elaborated.

Health assistant P R Naik, who shot the video said, under the jurisdiction of the Pernoli sub-centre Dhangarwada is the only hamlet which is difficult to reach, even on days with ordinary weather.

“When going for our visits, we generally travel through the State Transport buses or personal vehicles. This hamlet, however, has no road. Even the locals do not come down during the rain as it is a hazardous terrain. The route winds through the thick jungle and there is a threat of wild animals. We were fortunate that we returned without any harm,” said Naik.

The two-month “Har Ghar Dastak 2.0” campaign started on June 1 aims to expedite Covid vaccination to include all eligible beneficiaries through door-to-door campaigns.