Paying tribute to a COVID warrior, residents of a remote village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district installed a statue on the occasion of first death anniversary of the warrior on Tuesday.
59-year-old Prafulla Rout had performed commendable work in Penthapala Gram Panchayats by serving the people at a time when Covid was raging in the area.
He was infected with covid while looking after migrant workers of the panchayats who returned from covid-hit states last year.
Rout was also in charge of relief and rehabilitation works in the flood-hit areas of the gram panchayats last year, said locals.
He was dedicatedly involved in spreading awareness on Covid safety norms and carried out distribution of face masks and sanitizers.
Unfortunately, his efforts were short-lived as he succumbed to covid on 12 October last year, said Debendra Sharma, former MLA of Aul assembly constituency.
Prafulla Rout is survived by a son, two daughters and wife. The state government granted Rs50 Lakh as compensation to his wife last year.
The inauguration ceremony of the statue of covid warrior Prafulla Rout was organized by Prafulla Rout Memorial Trust in Chandiagadi village.