Bandipora, June 24: For Abdul Aziz Malik, 52, scaling mountains is no new task.
He has been trekking mountainous hamlets for most of the years in his service as an HDF employee in north Kashmir’s Bandipora.
To inoculate the population for Covid-19, his services have been well utilised to vaccinate maximum population of the villages like Vewan, where he is posted, apart from other hamlets of Athwatoo and Tangath.
“I am an overaged person to be eligible for any of the government jobs and all I have is this and my hopes rest here,” Malik says.
From 2015, Malik, who hails from Khayar village of the district, has been trekking to Vewan village to offer his services at a time when the village even lacked road as well as electricity and communication services.
“From my village, the uphill trek to Vewan, which passes through dense forests would take me 4 hours. I have been doing this every week for all these years since 2015,” he says.
Malik at times could hitch the ride up to half the way, but without being paid now for almost two years, from May 2019, he cannot afford Rs 120 to pay for cab to reach the village connected by road from this year.
“Earlier, though there was no specific route, I could hitch the ride till Athwatoo for Rs 35, and from there onwards, I would usually trek as the village had no roads. Now the village being connected via road, Rs 120 is a huge amount for us to pay for the ride which too is not easily available,” Malik says.
Till May 2019, Malik like other HDF employees attached at the district hospital were being paid Rs 1500 – the fund generated locally from tests like X-rays and OPD tickets.
According to Malik, the amount was later increased to Rs 2000 per month, but after the block was separated from the district hospital, these HDFs were dissolved in Bandipora block and attached with Block Medical Office, but according to them, “the block has not been raising enough revenue to pay us our monthly stipend”.
Malik has three children, two sons and a daughter. His two sons are in class 12th and 7th while his daughter reads in class 5th.
“My elder son, Amir asked me to help with his studies by availing tuition so that he could qualify for professional exams for medicine but my situation is not financially stable even to make ends meet,” Malik says.
Vewan village in Bandipora where he serves recently earned a distinction as a “first village in India to vaccinate 100% of its 18 years and above population”.
Despite being without pay, Malik has lead from the forefront “to motivate and reach the scattered mountainous habitation” offering to vaccinate the population.
“Being there for almost over six years, people trusted me when along with doctors, we went to inform them about the benefits and safety,” he says. Not only that, his experience with the population led him to take the vaccination drive in the adjoining semi-nomadic villages of Athwatoo and Tangath.
“We have been able to inoculate much of the population living in the hills,” he says.
Similarly, another HDF employee Shabir Ahamd Lone from Athwatoo also offered his services with all responsibility.
According to them, there are around 30 HDF employees involved with the department, all without pay.
Yet despite all the hardships at a personal level, Malik did not say no to the call of duty and continues to serve in the remotest areas of the district.
“I am doing this to serve the humanity though irony is that I cannot do anything apart from this at this age,” Malik says. “I seek the reward of my services from the Almighty Allah in the hereafter as like many others I am not able to pay Zakat or sacrifice an animal on occasions like Eid but to serve the people here.”