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ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

Matilda Kullu has been working as a healthcare worker for nearly 15 years. She keeps her village's women, expectant mothers' and children's health, hygiene, and contraception in check. She is the first ASHA worker to have featured in Forbes India list for her work in the medical field.

ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

For over a decade, the 45-year-old ASHA worker, Matilda Kullu, has been serving the people of Gargadbahal village in Odisha's Sundargarh district, and keeping their health and nutrition in check.

ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

Wearing a blue sari and carrying her kit of necessary medicines and a record book on a bicycle, Matilda Kullu pays visits to more than 200 households and provides them with necessary medications.

ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

But she had a rough patch to take off and attain the recognition and respect of the people. She had to combat the stereotypes of casteism and superstition to get the villagers to listen to her.

ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

Her work involves going door-to-door, checking on expectant and new mothers, and testing for various diseases such as malaria. Besides, she counsels women on hygiene and contraception and the benefits of family planning.

ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

Since the novel coronavirus hit the country, Matilda Kullu took on the additional task of educating the community about the virus, its symptoms and effects, and pursuing them for vaccination.

ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

She holds meetings with Anganwadi workers and follows up with houses for COVID and other health issues. Ms. Kullu's dedication and constant efforts bore a fruitful result, and she was recognised by Forbes India. She is the first ASHA worker to be featured in the list of Women Power 2021, among other influential personalities.

ASHA Worker Matilda Kullu Changes Odisha Village's Healthcare Scenario, FORBES Honors Efforts

Today, Matilda Kullu's village holds a complete rate of institutional deliveries. Besides, the village is one of the few rural areas in India to have completed 100 per cent of COVID-19 vaccination in the initial phase.

About The Campaign

About The Campaign

NDTV in partnership with Luminous has launched an awareness campaign ‘Be A Bijli Donor’ to promote the idea of ‘save power for more power’. The idea is to conserve energy today in order to get more power tomorrow.

 

We inherently know that saving energy results in low energy bills, but we also need to understand that a unit of energy saved today makes it available for people still living in the dark or facing regular power cuts.

 

Saving power or conserving energy is about knowing the sources of energy, and areas of wastage and thereby eliminating these through technology and lifestyle changes. For instance, a 100 W (Watt) incandescent (ICL) bulb can be replaced with a 9 W LED bulb offering similar performance in terms of light output, but at far lower consumption of energy.

 

While a 100 W ICL bulb, used for four hours a day, consumes 146 units of energy per year, a 9 W LED bulb requires only 13.5 units per year. Clearly, switching to LED is a smart choice as it provides the same output while consuming 90 per cent less energy.

 

The focus of the campaign is to instill the idea of ‘save power for more power’ and in order to do so, the initiative will create awareness about energy efficient products and services, smart ways to reduce power consumption, alternate sources of energy like solar energy and the need to conserve energy. The idea is to address the rising need for energy conservation in India.

 

As part of the campaign, we will highlight the stories of individuals and organisations who are championing the cause of energy conservation by switching to renewable sources of energy, adopting innovations to reduce energy consumption while enjoying the same output. The initiative will provide a platform for all stakeholders to share their ideas and work towards the common goal of, ‘Save power for more power’.