House arrest for Koraga health motivators

MANGALORE: P G Shanta can correlate symptoms with diseases and knows some facts about the medical world.But acquiring such knowledge took 30-year-old Shanta, who belongs to the Koraga community, nearly three months of residential training under experts. She was given guided fieldwork to become a health motivator."All the learning has been a sheer waste of time," rues Shanta, as she goes about completing some household chores in her house in Kudmal Garden in Bejai. Shanta stopped making contacts with Koraga colonies in Gundavpadavu in Bajpe and Pedurpadavu near Vamanjoor from August 1 when Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) maintained a stoic silence on releasing salaries that have been pending since April.Shanta is among the 13 women from the Koraga community who stay indoors and underwent similar training.District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr O R Srirangappa reveals that the idea of appointing health workers first emerged in a stakeholders' meeting convened by the then deputy commissioner Ponnuraj.Fourteen health motivators from the Koraga community were appointed to create awareness on health issues in Koraga colonies, Dr Srirangappa said, and added that they favoured a dedicated team as it was felt that Asha workers would not do justice to the objective.The residential training, which also included yoga, begun in February this year, Reproductive and Child Health Officer Dr Rukmini says.Twenty-four-year old Meenakshi from Kollamogru in Sullia taluk told Express that the training infused self-confidence in them and removed the sense of being unworthy from their minds.Shanta explains that they had to make regular visits to Koraga colonies to identify men, women or children suffering from different ailments and get them admitted to government hospitals. "We also incurred heavy expenses in ensuring that the sick members availed themselves of followup treatment," she adds.Though a meeting was convened in the zilla panchayat in July to resolve the issues, their salaries have not been paid yet.Red-tapism has washed away all the good work done in the district so far. Ruing over lost chances, MGNREGS Ombudsman Sheena Shetty says the services of 14 trained health motivators could have been utilised for multiple purposes for the welfare of the Koraga community.