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The Union Finance Ministry, on the recommendation of the Panchayati Raj Ministry, has released Rs 8,923.8 crore to 25 states for providing grant to rural local bodies. The spread of COVID-19 pandemic in different parts of the country has recently assumed serious proportions. The vulnerabilities of the rural communities need to be especially addressed. The amount released is the first installment of the Basic (Untied) Grants and may be utilized among other things for various prevention and mitigation measures needed to combat the Covid pandemic. The Ministry has also issued advisory for the guidance of Panchayats as regards the action for combating the COVID-19 pandemic, which inter alia includes the following areas.

Intensive communication campaign for the awareness of rural communities on the nature of the COVID-19 infection, and preventive and mitigative measures, in accordance with the advice of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), doctors and medical institutions etc, while especially taking care to dispel false notions and beliefs. The background material and creatives for this awareness campaign may be drawn suitably from the digital repository of health ministry. Providing suitable facilities with necessary protective equipment like finger oxy-meters, N-95 masks, infrared thermal scanning instruments, sanitisers etc.

Display of the information on availability of testing/vaccination centers, doctors, hospital beds etc on real-time basis to facilitate effective utilization of available infrastructure by the rural citizens. To leverage the available IT infrastructure in the Panchayat offices, Schools, Common Service Centers etc. may be leveraged for tracking and information display. To activate the Panchayats to provide the necessary institutional village level support catering to their respective locations. Wherever possible, they may improvise households as home quarantine locations, where maximum of the asymptomatic Covid positive cases can be managed. Additionally they may also set up specific quarantine/isolation centers for the needy and returning migrant labourers. In consultation with the Health Dept, the Panchayats may be designated to facilitate vaccination drives to ensure maximum coverage of eligible population.