Punjab Govt mulls ‘Covid volunteers’ to stem spread in rural areas under Mission Fateh 2.0

Punjab Polity and Governance

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh rolled out a new initiative, involving youth, to take forward the state’s Mission Fateh 2.0 as part of the ‘Corona Mukt Punjab Abhiyan’ (Covid-free Punjab Campaign), with directions to form groups of seven rural corona volunteers (RCVs) per village or municipal ward as a cadre to fight the pandemic.
With the villages badly affected in the second wave, it was important to drive a strong campaign for “Corona Mukt Pind”, he said, directing the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs and DCs to form such RCVs to be the torchbearers in the war against the contagion.
Existing clubs can also become RCVs and these could work as a powerful support system for the panchayats and municipalities in the war against Covid.
The Chief Minister tasked the RCVs with carrying forward the 3Ts drive (Test, Trace and Treat), taking care of poor and elderly and connecting them to the Covid control rooms and helplines, conducting theekri pehras in all villages, promoting Covid appropriate behaviour, assisting villagers in accessing adequate healthcare, discouraging quacks, encouraging download of COVA App, besides preparing and displaying banners and pamphlets.