India’s vax drive taps insurgency-hit areas

Located nearly 500 km from the state capital, Raipur, the village has no electricity, no supply of potable drinking water and no road connectivity. People must embark on an arduous journey to reach the village, which is located in the dense Dandakaranya Forest, a no-go area for many despite the increased presence of security forces in the region.

In June last year, 17 security personnel were killed and scores injured in a deadly attack by Maoist rebels. Despite the inhospitable terrain and the precarious security situation, progress has been made over the past couple of years when it comes to providing access to medical services. “This was a closed community and unapproachable. But in the last two years we have worked hard, won trust among the villagers and brought basic medical services to them,” Kapil Kashyap, a block development officer from Sukma, told DW.

That effort seems to be showing results. Pritam Dule, a volunteer at a school in Chintagufa in Sukma, is part of the COVID-19 tracing team, whose task is to track down positive coronavirus cases in the area and do contact tracing. “It was difficult initially to approach the villagers as many thought the disease was a conspiracy, and it took a lot to convince them that it could kill people,” Dule said. Nearly 95% of the village’s inhabitants have had their first shot of the COVID vaccine, and about 40% have received two doses. Even though vaccine hesitancy and inaccessibility have challenged the inoculation campaign, a push by a collective of NGOs, local networks and health volunteers has managed to persuade the wary and hard-to-reach population to accept the shots. “I wanted my two daughters to be safe and the health workers convinced me that the vaccination was safe. I agreed,” Oyam Medeme, a mother of two, told DW.

Sopi Sika, another young mother said: “I was scared. We had not seen health workers in this village for years and suddenly they [health officials] appeared. After my first jab, I could not sleep. But I am OK today.”Minpa is illustrative of the situation in various parts of Chhattisgarh, a heavily forested central Indian state with nearly 30 million people.

The state is home to a large tribal population, estimated to number more than 7 mn. Many tribes are isolated and live deep within the forests, which cover over 40% of the state’s territory. Chhattisgarh is also the epicentre of India’s Maoist insurgency. The Maoists, also known as Naxals, have waged an armed struggle against government forces for decades. They say they are fighting for the poor who have been left behind in India’s economic boom. “If you are not hit by the Maoists, malaria will surely hit you,” Katham Kosi, a health volunteer, told DW. Besides poor literacy rates and lack of economic development, Chhattisgarh also has high levels of malnutrition and anemia among children and women. “We had to rely on the slogan of development, coupled with trust and security. The pandemic escalated the problems in a region starved of a health care infrastructure. It was challenging,” Syam Sudheer Bandi, a UNICEF official in Raipur said.

Chhattisgarh’s official COVID-19 infection count is over 1 mn, while the death toll stands at over 13,500. The pace of vaccination has been slow due to difficulties reaching all parts of the state. Some officials have pointed out that 14 out of the state’s 27 districts are affected by civil strife, hindering the vaccination campaign. To combat the problem, several district administrations have roped in local youth volunteers, health workers and NGOs to respond and deal with COVID outbreaks. An initiative launched in September 2020 aims to increase participation of local youth in health campaigns, especially those targeting marginalised groups.