Raidighi MLA Aloke Jaldata has launched a door-to-door campaign to ensure that no one is left without medical care amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The 54-year-old Trinamul Congress MLA, who is a doctor by profession, with stethoscope around his neck, and pulse-oximeter, thermometer and other equipment in his kitty, began the endeavour in Mathurapur block on Thursday morning.

He visited around half a dozen villages and called on individual families to examine the health on the basis of inputs from grassroots workers.

On the first day of his endeavour, Jaldata visited villages including Srifaltala, Kankandighi, Nandakumarpur, and Jata under South 24-Parganas’s Mathurapur 2 block, which falls under his Assembly constituency.

“This is an initiative to make people aware of the vulnerable situation that has been created mostly by common fever, cold and aches in the body but also infection in the throat from a cold. My objective is to make people aware that these ailments could turn into serious conditions with high possibility of Covid infection. So, I visited the remotest villages to ensure that no one remained without treatment,” Jaldata told The Telegraph.

South 24-Parganas is one of the most affected districts in the state, with a major spike in positive cases being recorded during the past few days.

The district during the past 24 hours recorded 402 new cases, with the total active number of cases having crossed the 2,500 mark. The district administration has already identified around 60 micro-containment zones. In several areas of the Sunderbans region, where several people have been suffering from fever and Covid-like symptoms. However, apparent apathy among people in rural areas to visit hospitals for medical care has become a major concern for the administration.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Jaldata said: “The state government has been trying its best to serve people in this Covid situation. But, lack of awareness among people in the remote rural areas often poses a challenge to the health administration.”

“In the Sunderbans, rural people, mostly farmers and fishermen by profession, are quite reluctant to visit hospitals. These people have been suffering a financial crisis during the past two years owing to Covid. So, they avoid visiting hospitals,” the MLA said.

“I initially took information from Aasha workers and then visited houses. I examined patients, prescribed medicine. In some cases, I also distributed free medicine, which I took with me and also distributed masks. I have also made a list for the serious patients, which will be handed over to local health authorities so that they monitor their conditions,” Jaldata said, adding that he would continue the visit in other areas on a daily basis.

Kamal Bairagi, 56, a villager said: “It is a nice gesture by the MLA. I have been suffering from fever for the past few days. But, I was not in a position to visit the hospital for financial reasons. But it came as a pleasant surprise to me as the MLA, who is a doctor, visited my home and took care of me.”