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World's largest nationwide lockdown in India enforced to fight COVID-19 pandemic has snapped the physical access of households in rural Assam to healthcare, banking and other essential services. Away from the media glare, a digital army of over 7,500 Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE)s are working silently to keep open the online routes for thousands of households to help them avail these services in rural and semi-urban areas. There are about 800 women VLEs in this state in India’s Northeast.
These VLEs are providing telemedicine and other services like home deliveries of groceries, vegetables and other essential items in rural areas across a convergent digital platform called “e-help” through their Common Service Centre (CSC)s. In 667 CSCs in the state, where the VLEs also work as Banking Correspondence Agents. They are providing banking services through their Customer Service Points (CSP)s at the CSCs. In addition to the CSPs, some of the CSCs are also providing banking services of withdrawal and deposits through Digipay-an Aadhar-enabled payment system.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) and CSC e-Governance Services Limited, Assam have jointly worked out this digital solution – e-Help--through convergence of the CSCs and 33 District Disaster Management Authorities.
State Project Coordinator, ASDMA Pankaj Chakravarty told nezine.com: “Till April 26, altogether 2,556 tele-medicine calls have been made for non-emergency medical services since the lockdown began in the state. People in need of consulting a doctor book an appointment for video-based consultation through the CSCs. Doctors prescribe medicines, if needed, during the consultation to the needy patients. Some of the VLEs have also taken their laptops to houses of needy elderly patients to facilitate the video-based consultation at their doorsteps.”
He said that due to engagement of COVID-19 duties, availability of doctors for telemedicine services through CSCs has been a challenge. However, volunteer doctors from a number of private hospitals and institutions were enlisted for telemedicine services.
CSC is an Information Technology enabled network of citizens service connecting points. The CSCs connect the local population with government departments, banks and insurance companies, business establishments and education institutions. The VLEs earn commissions on services delivered by them.
Prior to lockdown, the CSC Assam used to get about on an average 50-60 telemedicine calls in a month.
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State Head of CSC e-Governance Services Limited in Assam, Gyan Doley attributes the surge in telemedicine calls to twin reasons of availability of volunteer doctors speaking local languages and lockdown requiring the people to stay indoors and restricting physical movements. He said that though the CSCs have been providing telemedicine service for a long time the demands were not building up much earlier. The VLEs give a printout of the signed prescription or any diagnostic tests advised the consultant physician to the patient concerned uploaded to the system by the consultant. The CSCs have been providing telemedicine services during lockdown period free of cost.
“We are seeking more volunteer doctors during the lockdown period to cater to the increasing demand for telemedicine consultations,” he adds.
The six primary support activities being extended under “e-Help” are:
Doley also said that more than 66,240 transactions for withdrawals amounting to Rs. 15.65 crores and close to 9,059 transactions for deposits amounting to nearly Rs. 1.84 Crores have been made in the current month till April 24 through the Customer Service Points of different banks (other than Regional Rural Banks) run by the Banking Correspondence Agents and Bank Mitras at their CSCs as well as through other CSCs. The banks pay commissions to the VLEs against the transactions.
He hoped that increase in Aadhar enrolment will lead to more rural households availing banking services through Digi pay at the CSCs. The Aadhar number has to be linked to the bank accounts for withdrawal, deposit and balance enquiry at the CSC through Digi pay.
In Assam, so far 23 per cent of the population have obtained Aadhar numbers. Besides, the state has been exempted from mandatory linking of bank accounts with Aadhar number as a large population are yet to register for an Aadhar card. Therefore, only those who have Aadhar cards and linked it to their accounts have been able to avail banking services through the CSCs.
The CSC State Head said that 200 CSC Grameen e-Stores have been activated in Assam on April 20 to help citizens get essential commodities at their doorsteps. “Till April 26, the CSC Grameen e-Stores have received close to 1800 orders. It is an e-commerce initiative to promote online ordering and home delivery of groceries and other essentials in the villages. Using CSC Grameen e-Store App, citizens could stay safe in the comfort of their homes without the need to venture out for buying food and other rations,” he added.
Till April 26, altogether 5.94 Lakh downloads of the AarogyaSetu App have also been carried out through the network of CSCs in the state under e-Help initiative.
Chakravarty said “The experiences and results of e-help are very encouraging. We are planning its application during the impending flood situation in the state too to ensure access of the essential services by flood-affected people. We are planning to create e-Help desks at the relief camps to be set up for flood-affected people. Such e-Help desks will also facilitate procurement of special “dignity kits” for disaster-hit people made by National Disaster Response Force through CSCs.”
Photo Couresy: 1st BN NDRF, Guwahati
The ASDMA with the collaboration of the CSC has also built up a network of over 16000 “Protirodhi Bondhu” volunteers across the state for providing non-medical assistances during COVID-19. The disaster response authorities hope that in the event of need to continue COVID-19 precautions for a prolonged period after the lockdown is eased, these volunteers will continue to play their critical roles as the sentinels of “social distancing norms” and building awareness on handwashing and other hygiene maintenance to prevent the outbreak or spread of the disease.
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