The day starts at the crack of dawn for Geeta Mandal. This Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) in her mid-thirties from Kachukhali village in West Bengal's Sunderbans goes out to work at nine in the morning.

Her work entails 7–8 hours’ walk, going door-to-door, screening people for any Covid-like symptoms, coordinating treatment, creating awareness about vaccination and general safety protocols.

This she does in addition to her routine works that include immunisation of children against diseases such as polio, measles, etc., taking pregnant women to health centres for delivery and promoting other healthcare schemes of the government.

But her rigorous day starts much before she steps out of home. “I go to work after completing all my household chores like cleaning the house, doing the laundry, washing dishes and cooking food for our family of five,” Mandal says.