In yet another attack on ASHA workers by violent residents, an ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker was verbally abused and manhandled by 5 people in Takiya area Bhauri Ganj in UP on Monday after she had visited the village to collect information of the people who had recently returned to the village, reports ANI.
I went for a survey to make a list of the people returning from other states & abroad. Some people gave me the information peacefully. But some others verbally abused me, tore my register & manhandled me: Beena Yadav, ASHA worker (07.04.2020) https://t.co/SWppGJHyVU
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 8, 2020
According to the reports, Beena Yadav, an ASHA worker had visited the village in Takiya area to collect information of the people who may have contracted the coronavirus on their way back to their village from various other places. This is part of an ongoing exercise launched by the state government to ascertain the number of Corona symptomatic patients in various states to isolate them if they are found to be carrying the Chinese virus.
According to Yadav, some people in the village gave her the information peacefully, however, some others verbally abused her and manhandled her as she asked details regarding their travel history. She also alleged that the mob also tore her register.
ASHA workers are ground-level health workers who are key to the healthcare system. While medical professionals are risking their lives every minute in the fight against coronavirus, ASHA workers getting attacked by miscreants for doing their duty is disheartening.
Last week, in a similar incident, a nurse and ASHA workers were attacked by locals residents in Bengaluru’s Sadiq layout for trying to carry out tests on suspected corona symptomatic patients and also for collecting information of fever and cough from the residents of the locality. The locals were allegedly given instructions from a Mosque to attack the ASHA workers. They had also torn the report prepared by ASHA workers.
Similarly, ASHA workers and an Anganwadi worker who had been collecting information about the health condition of the people in the containment zone at Kuduchi town, Karnataka were also attacked by a mob of more than 15 persons on Tuesday.
Cell phones of Asha workers and Anganwadi worker were snatched away and record papers were torn by a mob of miscreants. More than 15 positive cases have been found in Kuduchi town.
A series of incidents have already been reported in various parts of the country where they have been attacked by mobs, especially by Muslim mobs for carrying out their duty. We had reported a series of incidents where violent mobs had unleashed violence against frontline workers at a time when they are risking their lives to limit the spread of the Chinese epidemic.
