A senior Assam government official and a university teacher here have developed a collaborative model with the aim of prevention of Covid-19 outbreak in rural areas.

The model emphasises on formation of a village-level task force with existing government functionaries, panchayat ward member, members of youth and women organisations.

The task force with the gaonburah (village head) as its chairman, will be solely responsible for all activities, including maintenance of health and hygiene, academic activities of the students and other economic activities of the villagers.

The duo — Ananta Kumar Gogoi, secretary of Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority and Devajani Duarah, assistant professor of the department of education innovation and teacher training, Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU) — submitted the model in a two-day international online conference organised by KKHSOU in collaboration with Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia recently.

Under the model, the entry and exit of the visitors are strictly regularised by establishing a check gate at the entry point of the village. For better management of the system and effective communication, a round-the-clock control room will be set up which will be equipped with all important data related to the village.

The model suggests making available announcement system in villages to make important information related to Covid-19 outbreak and government notifications, circular and advisories to villagers.

“The circle officer of the local revenue circle will act as incident commander of that particular village and will be responsible for supervision of the activities of the task force and will also act as a bridge between the task force and the district administration,” the paper on the model said.

The task force will arrange sanitisation of the public places, assist in coronavirus testing drive, monitor the health of elderly persons above and persons suffering critical health issues.

Besides, the task force will have to communicate students or working persons of the village staying outside, assist in distribution of relief materials, face masks, hand sanitisers, carrying on regular economic activities and facilitate continuation of education.