Nurses who bring hope to the sick people in Naxal villages

Two Auxiliary nurse-midwives risk their lives daily to reach Naxal affected areas to treat sick people. They conduct health checkups and provides medicines to the villagers.

Bijapur:Arbitrary rule and hostility towards government resulted in the deprivation of basic facilities in the Naxal affected areas for a long time. Bijapur is one such area where people remained devoid of health facilities for a long time until two nurses emerged as a ray of hope in their lives.

Breaking the shackles of stereotypes, Asuriya Rao of Basaguda and Rani Mandavi from Nelasanar in Bhairamgarh block are doing the brave job of reaching out to people in Naxal affected area while risking their lives.

If Naxals were not the reason enough to make their job risky, the gushing river makes it difficult for the two to reach and provide help to people of Bijapur.

Asuriya and Rani are trained Auxiliary nurse-midwife, commonly known as ANM, who works as a village-level female health worker who is known as the first contact person between the community and the health services.

Wading through the heavy current of the river, the two ANM seems resolved to relieve Bijapur people out of their misery. Due to the absence of a bridge, they cross the river to reach the health centres of Bhairamgarh, Usur and Bhopalpatnam development blocks that fall under Bijapur district.

"We used to face a lot of issues during delivery of mothers. The help provided by the two women is a big relief for us," a local said.

They conduct health checkups and provides medicines to the villagers. They also try to educate them about health risks and how they can prevent them.