Mr. Arpit will present his APS as per the detail below:

Time: 1600 - 1700 hrs.

Venue: C-TARA Conference Room No.1

Topic: Understanding the Functioning of Frontline Healthcare Workers Using Street-Level Bureaucracy Theoretical Lenses: A Case Study of COVID-19 Control Room

Guide: Prof. Subodh Wagle

RPC Members: Prof. N.C. Narayanan, Prof. Pankaj Sekhsaria

Abstract: 

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected people across the globe, paralyzing different spheres of their daily lives. 'Frontline Healthcare Workers' —i.e., people dealing with the pandemic at the frontlines— played a critical role in mitigating the spread of the disease and treating the patients. In his theory called the Street Level Bureaucracy Theory, the political scientist Micheal Lipsky termed frontline workers—such as doctors, nurses, school teachers, and others—as "street-level bureaucrats" (SLBs). The defining features of their (SLBs') jobs include making judgments, drawing conclusions, and making on-the-spot choices. While analyzing the situation and making such on-spot decisions, they encounter multiple constraints that force the SLBs to deviate from the standard operating procedures (SoPs) or informal protocols given to them to complete their tasks. These constraints can be associated with their work environment, the resources provided to them, their relationship with their peers, superiors, and clients, and their attitude towards work, organization, clients, and supervisors. The SLBs, while implementing the tasks, devise 'coping actions' for dealing with such constraints. These 'coping actions' impact the delivery of services to the clients.

As the pandemic surged, the situation on the frontline evolved in real-time, and often, SLBs had no time to think before taking decisions and actions. The importance of these "street-level bureaucrats" increased significantly due to the unavailability of ready-made and well-tested protocols or scripts for actual actions on the ground or for the processes to be adopted while performing tasks.

The research seeks to understand how the functioning of SLB-frontline workers dealing with the pandemic was shaped. Using Street-Level Bureaucracy Theory as its theoretical lens, the research aims to grasp various constraints these SLB-frontline workers faced and the coping actions they devised to manage the stress developed from the above-mentioned constraints. The fieldwork for the research was carried out in the COVID-19 Control Room established by the district administration of the then-hotspot city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, from May 2020 to September 2020 and January 2021 to February 2021.

Having discussed the review of literature, research methodology, fieldwork, and findings in the previous presentations, this year's APS primarily focuses on addressing the comments of the RPC  on the writing of the dissertation.