Forbes India has released the list of Most Powerful Women of 2021. In this list, ASHA worker Matilda Kullu from Sundergarh district of Orissa has made a place among big names like Arundhati Bhattacharya, Aparna Purohit, Sanya Malhotra. Matilda got this achievement for the work done for the villagers of Gargadbahal village. Please inform that 45-year-old Matilda has been serving her in Gargadbahal village of Baragaon district of Sundargarh district for the last 15 years. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has also congratulated Matilda on her inclusion in the Forbes India W-Power 2021 list.
Let us tell you that Matilda is constantly increasing awareness about health among people through her work. According to Forbes India, the only effect of their efforts is that people of Bargaon district are now going to the hospital for treatment. When Matilda Asha joined as an activist, the villagers did not go to the hospital even when she fell ill. He resorted to witchcraft to recover. It took years for Matilda to wake up the villagers and persuade them to seek the help of medical science to stop all this. Not only this, they also had to face casteism and untouchability as they belong to lower caste.
Forbes India has written about Matilda that Matilda Kullu has dedicated her life for the care of 964 people of Baragaon district by earning just Rs 4500. Matilda is the Corona Warrior for the people of this village. Matilda used to visit 50-60 houses daily for examination. The 964 people who care for Matilda are mostly Aboriginal. There are 4 people in Matilda’s family. She wakes up every morning at 5 am and leaves for work on her bicycle after finishing the housework, preparing food, feeding the animals. Matilda also takes up sewing to meet her needs.
During the lockdown in the time of Corona, when the whole country was asked to stay at home, Asha asked the workers to go door-to-door to conduct health check-ups and to make the villagers aware of the new virus. According to Matilda, people were running away from the Kovid test, which was very difficult for them to explain. Matilda also tested positive for corona during the second wave of covid. After recovering two weeks later, he resumed his work.
It was also a challenging task to persuade the villagers to get vaccinated against Kovid-19. According to Matilda, it is good that the people of my village listened to me and got me vaccinated. Many of them have been fully immunized. Hence the laborers of other villages found it difficult to prepare their villagers to get vaccinated.