Wear masks or guard checkposts
JAIPUR: In its campaign against Covid-19, a small village in Rajasthan’s Dholpur district has made it a rule that any villager found flouting face mask norms will have to guard checkposts put up to curb entry of outsiders.
With nearby towns in Uttar Pradesh battling a surge in positive cases and patients swamping hospitals, the villagers of Kaithri in Dholpur have decided to keep their guard up against Covid-19 and not allow complacency on the part of a few putting others at risk.
“Simple admonishments don’t work. We had some people in the village who undermined the gravity of the situa
tion by saying that Covid-19 is an illness confined only to big cities. Therefore, we resorted to community services at checkposts to drive home the fact that no one is immune to the illness and suffering,” said sarpanch Ajay Pal Sharma.
“In last one week, as many as 28 people manned checkposts -all of them had not worn masks properly. Apart from standing guard at checkposts, they are also mandated to tell others about the importance of social distancing and sanitisation.”
Sharma said 11 people in the village had tested positive last month, yet people continued to believe the myth that Covid-19 inflicts only people living in urban areas. “We thought something needed to be done and held a meeting. We decided to set up barricades for outsiders, and for people within the village, a two-day duty at the check post was agreed upon,” Sharma said.
“The idea seemed to have worked. At least for now, most of the people stepping out do wear masks or cover their faces with cotton towels. The village has not reported any fresh Covid-19 case, and all 11 infected people have recovered.”
District collector Rakesh Kumar Jaiswal said Kaithri village has been at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19. “The village has a good vaccination record; villagers also undertook regular sanitisation work. The efforts at the panchayat level will go a long way in our collective fight against the coronavirus,” he said.