A team of rural data collectors is helping improve health-seeking behaviour and the health delivery system in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
Members of the “data dal” (group) are driving community health assessments across 420 Village Council Development Committees spread across five districts of the 8,970 sq. km. BTR, generating vital information to strengthen a localised health strategy, aligned with the National Health Policy.
Youth club Green Brigades in Assam’s BTR on mission to ‘reclaim the climate’
The primary job of these village health volunteers, currently numbering 248, is to jot down general health issues and check if people adhere to routine check-ups, and take medicines and supplements on time. They also mark areas that need special focus for certain ailments, including sickle cell disease, afflicting people mostly in the Udalguri district of BTR.
“Their inputs help us map the patients and areas with specific health issues for an improved and targeted approach. The information they provide has been crucial in taking the Rog Nirmul BTR Mission forward,” Har Gobindo Boro, BTR Fellow (Health), told The Hindu on Tuesday (September 16, 2025).
