BHUBANESWAR: Forty-two-year-old Kishor Chandra Nayak, who has been serving tirelessly as a frontline civic worker without taking leave since the outbreak of the pandemic is an example for others in this time of crisis.
Nayak has been driving the mobile van of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to the doorsteps of Covid-19 suspects for collection of swab samples for the RT-PCR test since June last year.
Prior to outbreak of the coronavirus infection Nayak used to work as an ambulance driver in BMC. However, after the pandemic hit, he was assigned the duty of driving the sample collection van that he has been discharging religiously.
With time his work load has only increased as he and other crew members of the van sometimes now require to visit more than 150 suspects a day to collect samples for Covid test.
“Even if it is risky, duty comes first,” Nayak said and added that he finds it as an opportunity to give back to society.
Nayak lives with his spouse and children at Dumduma, while his parents live around 70 km away at Tarabalo village in Nayagarh which sometimes makes things more difficult for him to manage. However, barring one day, he said he has neither availed any leave nor day off.
“Even if there is any emergency or I need to attend my parents in Nayagarh, I travel in evening and join duty the next morning. This has been continuing since day one of my new assignment,” he said.
Apart from driving the van he also coordinates with other crew members of the van in contacting the suspects in reaching at their address.
Most importantly, he has been taking all precautionary measures and has been able to protect him and others in his family from catching the virus.
“I always wear mask and request others to do so while stepping out of home, as I feel it was one of the safest measures that protected me from being infected given the nature of my job,” he said.
The frontline worker also requested eligible citizens to get vaccinated without any hesitation and said he feels more safe and protected to work after two doses of the vaccine.
“This is the best way people can protect themselves and help in reducing the burden on frontline workers,” he said.