Bhubaneswar: In an attempt to create awareness about coronavirus among the people of rural areas, an NGO Child Rights and You (CRY) has started a ‘Mobile Vaani’ programme in five districts of the state.
The programme is currently available in Koraput, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Bargarh and Kandhamal districts.
“Under this programme, the organisation is running awareness capsules about COVID-19 through a mobile number (9266657333). People can dial the number and listen to the capsule to know about COVID-19 and how can they save themselves from getting infected by COVID-19,” said Ashim Ghosh, Associate General manager of CRY.

“Apart from giving information about the virus, our volunteers also ask questions regarding health issues in the area or whether anyone is suffering from any disease or feeling unwell or showing symptoms of COVID-19,” he added.
CRY Regional Director, East, Trina Chakrabarti said CRY in partnership with Mobile Vaani- a flagship initiative of Gramvaani has launched a massive awareness building drive to prevent ths outbreak of COVID 19 in various districts of Odisha and Bihar. The objective of the initiative is to combat misinformation about Covid19, to help people undertake a self assessment whether they need to undertake a test, Trina said.
Through the self-assessment of the listeners, the people with critical conditions and COVID-19 can be identified. They then need to be tracked and referred to the medical officers at the districts for further diagnosis in time for treatment. This is expected to limit community spread.
Besides, with community meetings and gatherings becoming a challenge during the lockdown, Mobile Vani is expected to raise awareness about COVID-19 among as many people as possible. Given the highly contagious nature of the virus, it is important to educate people about the dos and don’ts – especially to the communities where there are large number of migrant labourers who might not have access to information about the disease, CRY said.
According to data provided by the organisation, they have reached 961 listeners so far. From the survey, they found that there were four people who were suffering from breathing issues and there were five respondents were suffering from high blood pressure hence these people could be the vulnerable ones.
The data will be shared with the district coordinators who will take this up on an urgent basis, Basak said.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
