Kerala's centenarian woman Communist leader K.R. Gouriamma passed away at the age of 102. Two days after the incident a district in the state with an all-woman team at the helm is demonstrating how the COVID-19 pandemic can be dealt with effectively and softly.
Kottayam district, which rose to national prominence 32 years ago when its capital town by the same name became the first town in India to be completely literate in 1989, is now setting several examples in effectively navigating through the pandemic days.
All-Women team consists of Kottayam’s district panchayat president- Nirmala Jimmy, district collector- M. Anjana, and district superintendent of police- Shilpa Dyavaiah.
The district sees its share of cases on a daily basis, but Kottayam is tackling the pandemic with a variety of initiatives, including the establishment of oxygen parlours, NGOs collecting funds in cash and kind for virus-affected citizens, and even individuals chipping in with donations.
Although most of India suffers from oxygen shortages, the St Thomas Hospital in Chethipuzha, Kottayam district, has a US-made oxygen generator that produces 500 liters of oxygen per day.
Several instances of individuals and organisations pitching in with assistance to those affected have been registered from various parts of the state. A group of young people in Kanjirapally decided to donate blood to the local blood bank before getting their preventive vaccines since they wouldn't be willing to donate blood for several weeks afterward.
In Changanacherry, another town in the district, a parents’ organisation is running a ‘rice kit challenge’ to collect rice kits for distribution to the needy.
“Whenever there is a crisis, people come forward to help. It is very heartening to see a district where people are so well-behaved, educated, and co-operative”, Dyavaiah said.
District superintendent of police, Shilpa Dyavaiah, a native of Bengaluru, told Gulf News that keeping law and order in the district was made easy by the high education levels and law-abiding nature of local residents.
Communist veteran Gouriamma came close to becoming Kerala’s first woman chief minister. She would have been proud to see Kottayam’s performance under the leadership of women.
