: Fresh Out Of College, How Two 21-YO Sarpanches Made Their Villages COVID Free #IndiaNEWS #Coronavirus After Maharashtra witnessed a devastating health crisis in April and May, the weekly COVID-19

Fresh Out Of College, How Two 21-YO Sarpanches Made Their Villages COVID Free #IndiaNEWS #Coronavirus
After Maharashtra witnessed a devastating health crisis in April and May, the weekly COVID-19 positivity rate across the state is slowly declining. As per the latest report on June 10, the positivity rate came down from 15. 18% in May to 5. 89% in June with regions such as Solapur, Nagpur, Nashik reporting a rate of less than 5%.
While presenting the figures, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery praised local administrations for their work. Among these were two 21-year-old sarpanches from Solapur district Ruturaj Deshmukh from Ghatane and Komal Karpe from Antroli village respectively. The two only came to power in February this year, just before the onset of the second wave of coronavirus.
Fairly new to the runnings of an administration, the duo was faced with a challenge that even experts and veteran officials are grappling with. The situation is especially worse in rural areas, given the lack of awareness and facilities. But the two BSc graduates took up the challenge to mitigate COVID-19 cases in their respective villages and succeeded within a month.
The Better India speaks to the young sarpanches about the measures they undertook to safeguard their villages.
Ruturaj Deshmukh: ‘Testing was the key’
Ruturaj Deshmukh
Ruturaj’s parents are farm labourers, and his experiences growing up provided him better insight into how poverty escalates when government schemes and benefits do not reach the grassroots, he says. This was his primary motive behind standing for local administration elections. “I know that if the gram panchayat works efficiently, it can solve the problems of its people,??? he says.
Speaking about the COVID crisis, he adds, “When I came to power, coronavirus cases were dropping and I was glad that things were returning to normal. But in the first week of April, two people from the same family died due to the virus. So without wasting any time, I swung into action because it was important to nip the virus in the bud,??? says Rurutaj, who is also a student of LLB.

The village, with a population of 1,500 people, was immediately put under a lockdown as cases in the first week of April spread swiftly. Within a few days, 15 people had been infected with COVID-19.
With the help of his panchayat team and the local police, Ruturaj imposed a strict fine of Rs 200 on people found not wearing masks in public places, or those venturing outside their homes without a valid reason. This helped village residents realise the seriousness of the virus. He also launched an awareness campaign called ‘Be Positive and COVID-19 Negative’ to spread awareness with the help of Anganwadi health workers.

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