Bhilwara Model: Government’s Applaudable Movement Towards Ruthless Pandemic

Bhilwara is a textile hub of Rajasthan. In the initial phase of the pandemic, Bhilwara showed a significant rise in the Coronavirus cases. The first case was reported on 19 March which gradually emerged as the hotspot of the outbreak. Rajendra Bhatt, the district collector of Bhilwara in Rajasthan suddenly gear up to action to save the district from the battle of COVID 19. The containment plan by the government turned out to be the best model to fight against the infectious disease. Various steps have been taken by the administration ranging from the police to health measures. The outbreak in the city started from a local hospital, the first positive case was found on 19 March, which reached 27 by 30 March including 2 deaths.  

Before the announcement of nationwide lockdown by PM Modi, the district government has issued orders to close down all the industries, factories, and other establishments in which more than 10 workers were employed. The district imposed a curfew on 20 March and sealed off its borders on 19 March. Only essential services were allowed to operate. Holders of government-approved passes were only allowed entry into the district. Perpetrators were punished for defying the guidelines. An aggressive screening was started with the help of the Health Department and the district administration in Bhilwara. Nearly 850 teams were constitutes for conducting house-to-house surveys and 2,80,937 of 56,025 houses. The team successfully conducted tested in search of any possible cases in just 3 days. Doctors, auxiliary nurses, midwives and nursing staffs were trained and 300 teams were constituted with the help of home guards, police personnel, government officials and other individuals, by March 27 and 4.35 lakh houses and 22 lakh people were screened. Eventually, the whole district with 30 lakh people were screened in just 10 days. Those found with influenza-like symptoms were home quarantined. Two kilometres-area of any person found positive was sealed turned into ‘zero mobility area’. Further, the government used an app to monitor those under home quarantine daily through ‘Geographical Information System’. The administration took over four private hospitals and 27 hotels with 1,541 rooms to beef up its contingency plans. Soon the district converted the curfew into ‘Maha-Curfew’ on 3 April under which, doorstep delivery of essential goods was initiated and control rooms were established for receiving calls from citizens. The government has paid attention to every minute steps to control the cases like regular screening of the population and discharged patients.

Apparently, these measures bear some fruits to curd the chain of ruthless virus. The town till date has reported only one new case since 30 March and 17 have recovered. The success of the Bhailwara model has now prompted the centre to adopt this panacea for most affected areas in India. Despite all these measures, the magistrate behind this is still reluctant to declare Bhilwara, a district that was being projected to Italy, free from COVID 19 and securing triumph over the battle.  

KUMARI SIMRAN

Student Reporter, INBA

REFERENCE: business-standards.com, investindia.gov.in, thehindu