Social Stigma During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Sociological Study of Problems Faced by the Doctors in Mahendergarh District of Haryana

From the last two year the pandemic changed the whole scenario of living and affected all the sectors. Especially the health sector affected from the pandemic as the loopholes of the sector came out. The health sector of every country even the highly performed health system was miserable in front of the pandemic. The frontline workers were stigmatized everywhere due to the type of virus and its spread system. There were many variants of the virus that made the situation more complex and it caused many severe consequences. This research mainly focused on the stigma faced by the doctors and the other consequences of the stigma during the pandemic on the respondents and the family members faced. The study was conducted in Mahendergarh district of Haryana and the doctors working in government hospital were the respondents. The study was qualitative in nature. The descriptive research design was used and the semi-structured interview scheduled with open and closed ended question was used to collect the information regarding the topic. The data was analyzed based on the narratives and themes were used to justify the research objective of the study. The duty of the respondents was mandatory at that time. The respondents had to play different role during the pandemic like collect sample from the suspected area, in home isolation, in Covid ward. From the narratives the stigma was there and the nature of stigma was intra-personal in nature. The respondents and their family members faced stigma during the pandemic period. The family of the respondents even forced them to quit the job but the respondents still performing their duty they said it was their profession and they were happy as they had got chance to save life. The respondents also faced violence the post effect of the stigma. The mental health issues anxiety, workload, stress, and many more were the other issues the respondents faced during the duty in the pandemic. In last the study identified some crucial suggestions to improve the health system so that in upcoming pandemic and in such situation, they will do better and save more and more lives.