Palej woman sarpanch fortifies village against Covid invasion

Vijaysinh Parmar | TNN | May 5, 2020, 04:00 IST

Surat: “We have entered the third phase of lockdown and our town has successfully kept Covid-19 at bay,” beams sarpanch Naseembanu Pathan, with justifiable pride ringing in her determined voice. Welcome to Palej, a village near Bharuch, where the sarpanch and her husband, Salim Khan, a panchayat member and an advocate, have left no stone unturned to fortify their hamlet against virus invasion.
Soon after the nationwide lockdown announced on March 24, Palej panchayat immediately sealed nine entry and exits points to the village, disconnecting it with the rest of the state. The sarpanch had vowed to strictly implement lockdown in their own way.
Palej has a population of more than 20,000, almost the size of a town, and is surrounded by industries where large number of migrant workers are employed.
Interestingly, Ikhar village, located nearly 5km away from Palej, reported four Covid-19 positive cases, but Palej still holds its fort against the killer virus. Bharuch district has nearly 27 positive cases.
“We deployed a team of volunteers at each point to ensure that nobody goes outside without valid reason and nobody comes in too. Inside the village, we barricaded all streets and only allowed people to come out if there was an emergency,” the sarpanch told TOI.
While fighting the virus, the sarpanch also ensured that nobody goes hungry in the village. She distributed quota of food grains to ration card holders and also provided one month’s ration for free by spending from her own pocket to 275 card-less poor families.
“I created 11 WhatsApp broadcast groups of villagers to keep them updated on the steps being taken as well as the dos and don'ts during lockdown,” she added.
The village that is close to the busy Ahmedabad-Mumbai national highway-48 has people living abroad too. With villagers’ help, the panchayat identified around 95 people, which included 30 from abroad, who had arrived in the village just before the lockdown. “I personally took them to the government facility for screening and ensured they don't violate self-isolation rules,” Salim Khan Pathan told TOI.
The panchayat also ran a kitchen for 15 days to provide food to more than 250 migrant workers stuck in the village.
VILLAGE TOLD COPS TO USE DRONES
In a bid to deter lockdown violators, the Palej panchayat approached police and asked them to use drones and detain vehicles. “Over 70 vehicles were detained by the police, which sent a strong message among villagers.” At least 15 people were penalized for not wearing masks and for spitting on public roads.