RAMAYAN DURING PANDEMIC: ANALOGY BETWEEN THE LIFE OF THE UNCELBRATED URMILA OF RAMAYAN AND OUR UNACCLAIMED ASHAs [ACCREDITED SOCIAL HEALTH ACTIVISTS] [republished]

When the year 2020 began, no man on this earth could foretell that terms like ‘pandemic’, ‘lockdown’, ‘contagious’ would become the new norms. Likewise, none could foresee that a rerun of Ramayan and Mahabharata, by the good old Doordarshan, would smash viewership records worldwide. Ramayan, immortal story of duty and devotion, garnered maximum viewership during the pandemic and with that often parallels were drawn between warriors of Ramayan and Covid warriors. 

The most important comparison was between Hanuman and the doctors and nurses of our country, both epitomising self-less service beyond the call of duty. Yes Hanuman was pivotal to Ramayan but there were many gracious albeit hidden characters in Ramayana who despite their remarkable sacrifice were relegated and ignored. One such character is Urmila, referred to by Rabindranath Tagore as one of the forgotten heroines (Upekshita) of our past. Though her sacrifice was incomparable, only a few lines are attributed to her in the epic. If comparisons are inevitable, then she is like the muted, neglected and weary ASHA(Accredited Social Health Activists) women, the unsung Covid warriors, functioning round the clock to help our community in such unprecedented times. Like Urmila of Ramayan, there is a need to register and acknowledge the role of ASHAs, who despite their struggles don’t lose their sanity, carry on with their duty without seeking any space of themselves. 

Although Sita is shown as the ideal wife and Laxman is shown as the ideal brother, Urmila, who sacrificed a large portion of her life to an absent husband, led a devout life and was dutiful, is completely forgotten. Whatever little is known about Urmila, is not from the Sanskritic texts but from the Ram kathas and folklores. It is believed that Laxman begged to goddess of sleep to leave him alone for fourteen years so that he could guard his brother and sister-in-law night and day. But the law of nature demanded that someone bear the burden of Lakshman’s share of sleep and it was Urmila who took over the task while her husband stayed awake in the service of Ram and Sita. This had an impact in the war against Ravana. Meghnadh, Ravana’s mighty son, was invincible. Only a man who had not slept for 14 years could defeat him. Thus, Lakshman was able to kill him, all thanks to Urmila. As per Anand Ramayana, Urmila knew the reason for Laxman’s unconsciousness and shared the same with Hanuman who, while returning with sanjeevani, decided to pass through Ayodhya. 

Urmila was a living heroine who held the fort when everyone important had left, but still remained an unsung heroine. In present times, the (ASHA) activists are working with dedication and courage, putting their lives at risk, on the frontlines of the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of them have small children. But motherhood hasn’t stopped these women, who are our grass-root warriors, from accepting new responsibilities of creating awareness on Corona virus by contact tracing of migrants and others. They carry out door-to-door awareness drives, giving lessons to people on hand washing, social distancing and wearing a mask. My interactions with some of the ASHA workers have been extremely moving. They often carry their infants in their arms while collecting data about infected people, fully aware that they are exposing their small children to the infection. Many of them are subjected to ridicule and violence, yet they carry out door to door survey with zero safety, without PPE and with very paltry remuneration. 

Anju Singh (name changed to protect identity), one of the Asha workers of ward 58, zone 12 of Bhopal, is a corona warrior, moving around in the hot summer to help the administration in contact tracing. Then she has to upload all information online with the help of her mobile. She is paid Rs 2000 monthly and some ‘protsahan rashi’(sic). She is hoping that the ‘sarkar’(sic) would pay the Rs 10000/- that is promised to them as incentive during corona pandemic. She is given gloves and mask but no PPE. Her plea is that government should do their ‘niyamitikaran’(sic) so that they have a more secured job and steady remuneration. In any other time, they are busy with immunisation, building awareness about family planning, taking care of pregnant women. But in these trying times, they are our first line of defence against corona. It is a matter of record that many ASHA’s were attacked while collecting data of people with Covid-19 symptoms- incidents from Niliabag containment zone, Balasore district, Odisha; Padarayanapura, Bengaluru, Karnataka and Faridabad are fresh in our minds. One of the key components of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is ASHA. 

Selected from the community itself and accountable to it, the ASHA were to be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. Many studies have shown that after the introduction of ASHA workers under the NRHM in India, awareness and utilization of healthcare services at the peripheral level has improved. In Uttar Pradesh, it was observed that not only institutional delivery rates have increased, in fact, 70% of institutional deliveries were motivated and facilitated by the ASHA’s. Such positive news was reported by a 2008 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) assessment of the NRHM programme in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Health indicators by way of decline in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality rate (MMR) and Total Fertility Rate (TFR) are testimony to the dedication of ASHA workers. Yet recruitment and training of ASHAs is not a priority. Performance Audit report of the CAG of India on Reproductive and Child Health under NRHM (Report No 25 of 2017) states that Under the Mission, a trained female community health worker called Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) is to be provided in each village in the ratio of one per population of 1,000 (or less, for large isolated habitations). States were given the freedom to relax the population norms prescribed for ASHA, so as to suit their local conditions. Each ASHA was to be provided induction and other modules of training for skill enhancement. Test check of records of 88 districts in 19 States during 2011-16 revealed shortfalls in selection and training of ASHAs. 

In Ramayan, Urmila held on to her ground when everyone important had to leave. The war was won due to the valour and wisdom of Ram and Laxman and dutifulness of Hanuman. It was also won because of silence and dedication of the unsung Urmila. The war against Covid-19 is being fought by many heroes and warriors alongside many unrecognised, unknown ASHAs. As Ramayan is incomplete without Urmila, similarly ASHAs are indispensable to our fight against this pandemic. The efforts of these foot-soldiers need to be recognised, registered, clapped and applauded. 

First published in 2022

 

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