Ex-Hry sarpanch of 'selfie with daughters' fame waging anti-Covid battle

Chandigarh, Apr 6 () A former village sarpanch of Jind district, noted for his 'selfie with daughters' initiative and many other pro-women campaigns in Haryana, is busy these days waging a multi-pronged battle against coronavirus, ranging from sanitising villages to using khap's directives to enforce social distancing.

Sunil Jaglan, the former head of Bibipur village in Jind district, is currently working in the rural hinterland of his district, besides those of Gurgaon and Nuh, taking several innovative initiatives with help of volunteers since imposition of nationwide lockdown.

Earlier in 2015, Jaglan had launched the 'selfie with daughters' initiative to give boost to the Centre's flagship Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising his effort on various platforms.

Jaglan has two daughters who study in a school in Jind with the elder one being a class four student and the younger one of class one.

Sharing details of his present initiatives, Jaglan said he is busy encouraging people staying indoors to undertake various constructive works ranging from teaching children to helping their spouses in household chorus apart from doing meditation and pursing their creative inclinations on art and craft front.

"I specially ask people to teach their children new things and tell them how to face challenging situations such as this one in their lives," said Jaglan.

"We are also working with Gram Panchayats in sanitisation drives," he said.

He said being associated with 'khaps' or caste councils, which exercise considerable influence in rural areas of the state, he has also been utilising their services to nudge people to follow social distancing norms and strictly avoid sharing 'hookahs' to avoid the risk of infection.

"As many as 350 volunteers are working with me on these various initiatives," Jaglan told over the phone.

"We have created 150 WhatsApp groups in rural areas. We regularly keep a tab on vital information on COVID from authentic sources like government agencies or WHO and circulate these on the groups which helps villagers to remain updated. Besides, information from the government bodies which is relevant in a particular area is also provided," he said.

With social distancing critical to preventing spread of coronavirus, Jaglan said, "We have tried to raise awareness among villagers on how vital it is to win over this battle against the disease. With harvesting season on, we tell them to maintain social distancing when they work in fields or hire labourers for the job."

Jaglan and his team of volunteers are also helping out students, especially those from class one to five by searching for relevant lectures uploaded on Youtubers and sharing them with the students or their parents.

"As children, especially younger ones, get impatient being restricted indoors during the lockdown, we search for relevant lectures and fun activities uploaded by the Youtubers and share their links directly with children so that so they could be benefitted," he said.

For Gurgaon and Nuh districts, Jaglan says he has tied up with a Rajasthan-based clinic, where a doctor gives online consultancy free of charge to those facing any kind of emergency.

"We are also working on the mental health aspect as we have found that some people are developing a kind of phobia due to coronavirus," he said.

In Muslim-dominated Mewat in Nuh, 28 of his volunteers are working to raise awareness in the community about COVID.

"Initially, we found that many people, including children, used to go to mosques to offer prayers. We tried to persuade many that during this crisis people of all faiths should offer prayers at home as crowds provide a fertile ground for the spread of coronavirus infection," he said. SUN VSD RAXRAXRAX