Latehar: Manti Devi from Latehar district of Jharkhand was photographed as she crossed a stream nearly waist-deep. Manti was out on her duty as her situation didn’t allow her to forsake her responsibilities. As she waded through the waist-deep Burra river like she does everyday for her work, she was seen carrying her baby on her back along with a bag full of baby food, other essentials and a box full off vaccines for children while she held her slippers on the other hand.
Manti is a contractual Auxiliary Nurse Midwife(ANM) and the only breadwinner of the family. She works day and night selflessly to feed her child and her husband.
She works for the government’s regular immunisation programme for young children in the Aksi panchayat and the Covid vaccination drive at some centres in the Sohar panchayat. She has to travel about 25km every day from her home in Mahuadanr block to the Chetma health centre, to which she is attached. As public transport is minimal, she is helped by her husband, Sunil Oraon, unemployed at the moment, who takes her to different places on his scooty.
Manti said that it is her duty to visit each village once every month to administer multiple jabs so that children are protected from diseases like measles, influenza, hepatitis and tuberculosis. She is also required to distribute iron and folic acid tablets for anaemic children and anti-worm drugs.
