Sarpanchs as game changers
FRONTLINE|June 5, 2020
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
PRAFULLA DAS
Sarpanchs as game changers

THE FEAR OF THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 HAS led the people to join hands with the Naveen Patnaik government in tackling the pandemic. The government, too, realised very early that the fight could not be won without participation of grass-roots leadership. Given the spread of the outbreak, it was impossible for the government machinery to depute officials in every village.

With dedicated teams of officials by his side, the Chief Minister, in a first of its kind exercise, involved the panchayati raj institutions (PRI) in managing the situation as the number of positive cases kept increasing every day.

When Odia people returning to their villages from other States tested positive, Naveen Patnaik bestowed sarpanchs with the powers of a District Collector. Santilata Nayak, a woman sarpanch of Manitara gram panchayat under Buguda block in Ganjam district, even declared a shutdown in her panchayat to contain the spread of the virus. The sarpanchs of Madhupalli and Mandara in Polasara block in the same district followed suit. Since then the government has encouraged sarpanchs to take the lead in this fight. The Chief Minister said, “Sarpanchs have been working devotedly in the management of quarantine centres and other COVID care institutions.”

He has also accorded front-line warrior status to sarpanchs for their dedication in managing and strengthening Odisha’s fight against the pandemic at the grass-roots level and announced Rs.50 lakh compassionate assistance for family members if any sarpanch died in the pandemic.

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