Bengaluru: The presence of arsenic and fluoride in water in rural areas of Pavagada, a panchayat town in Tumakuru, has affected the population with skin diseases and has led to increasing number of disability at birth. Hussainpura was one of the villages in Pavagada that social work students of St Joseph’s College shortlisted for their rural visit when a student showed interest in addressing the villagers’ problems.
An awareness drive in progress
“The department could not finalise the venue as setting up a safe and secure camp there for 30 students was difficult. After I saw the villagers’ problems after the pilot visit, I decided to bring in a positive change in the village,” says Rahul Prasad, who hails from Delhi and has given up his engineering to focus on social work.
For Rahul and the Social Work Department, a basic research revealed a number of daily challenges the community was facing. Women travel 4 km every day, crossing the state border onto Shahpura village of Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh to fetch fresh water, village lacks toilets and a proper Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifying system and the villagers do not have a a healthcare centre. “The nearest hospital is 38 km and travelling through the forests is not easy. Setting up a primary healthcare centre and educating people on how to provide-first aid are among our plans for the intervention,” Rahul said.
Mr Akshay Mandlik, head, Social Work department, SJC, said that the faculty is supervising the intervention by students. “Scientific and systematic approaches towards such initiatives play a lead role in bringing out favourable results. The students’ interest along with theoretical exposure at the college contributes to bigger impact,” he said.
Rahul is all set for his five-day intervention operation at the village from November 7 to 12 and believes that creating awareness among the community will yield greater results. He will camp at a government school in the village and has already got permission and support from the Block Education Officer (BEO). Villagers too have welcomed his initiative.
Youngster on a mission
- Animate the community to voice their grievance to get the RO system fixed.
- Create awareness against open defecation and build makeshift toilets.
- Instigate government pensions for widows and disabled members of the community.
- Establish a primary healthcare room and give first-aid training.
