A door-to-door well being survey undertaken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to seek out out the precise illness burden and rising/declining developments of ailments amongst Punekars has floor to a halt, virtually, attributable to some residents’ refusal to cooperate and permit the civic workers entry into outstanding housing societies.

The survey started on April 1 and needs to be accomplished by May 31. The PMC has to cowl 35 lakh folks residing within the metropolis out of which, it has managed to survey 24,77,000 folks dwelling in 6,68,000 homes (particular person homes and slums). However, civic well being officers at the moment are struggling to cowl the remaining 10,00,000 folks residing in large housing societies attributable to their non-cooperation and refusal to let the workers enter the housing societies.

The door-to-door survey to gather details about household planning, communicable and non-communicable ailments (NCD), maternal well being and immunisation started on April 1. The PMC even appointed 300 nurses for finishing up the survey. While there have been no glitches in surveying round 25,00,000 folks dwelling in particular person properties and slums within the metropolis, the workforce is now dealing with resistance from round 10,00,000 folks dwelling in housing societies on Ghole Road, Aundh, Baner, Kothrud and Kalyaninagar. These residents are refusing the PMC workers entry into the housing societies and will not be cooperating or sharing particulars and usually refusing data amongst others. So a lot in order that the PMC has urged the residents to cooperate with the workforce in order that the survey will get accomplished.

Dr Vaishali Jadhav, assistant well being officer of the PMC, stated that they won’t take the assistance of the police but when required, will ask the ward medical officers (WMOs) and zonal medical officers (ZMOs) to carry a gathering with the residents of housing societies that aren’t cooperating with the PMC workers. “What the PMC is doing is for the welfare of the public. So, the citizens should support us and cooperate with us. The staff has identity proofs and permission letters from the PMC and the respective WMO and ZMO to conduct the survey. In case of security concerns, the citizens can verify the documents before permitting entry and sharing information. However, non-cooperation and refusing entry to the staff is wrong,” she stated.

“Even before the survey, the WMO and ZMO have conducted community meetings to inform in advance about the survey to be conducted by the PMC. Till now, there were no issues and the people in the slums, Peth areas and individual houses supported us. But the problem started when the survey began in big and prominent housing societies,” she stated.

A senior officer from the PMC well being division on situation of anonymity stated that the survey is essential to seek out out the precise illness burden and rising/declining pattern of ailments amongst the residents. “The beneficiaries that are identified during the survey will then be included in various health programmes so that they can avail the benefits of schemes. But people are not able to understand and despite several requests, many are refusing to cooperate or permit entry to the staff,” the officer stated.

Civic officers recalled that even whereas tracing contacts of the kin of Covid-positive sufferers in the course of the pandemic, a few of them didn’t cooperate to the extent that they needed to take the assistance of police officers.

Abhijeet Patel, secretary, Kalyani Nagar Resident Association (KNRA), stated that he doesn’t agree with PMC stating that the residents will not be cooperating. “The way the civic staff approach the citizens also matters. If identity proof is shown by PMC staff then residents would not refuse to cooperate. Residents panic when a civic staff visits, and mostly comply. However, some residents who live in elite housing societies may not cooperate due to privacy and safety concerns.”

Santosh Bhaskar, a resident of Kothrud, stated, “Civic officials are conducting surprise visits. Many may not be comfortable to share their details or permit entry to the housing societies if not informed prior due to safety reasons. People who are office goers leave their house in the morning and return late in the evening. Many times only the elderly people are at home in the afternoon. If anyone comes in the afternoon, how could they expect to be entertained? The PMC should hold a meeting in advance with the citizens to inform us about the survey.”