Farmers Movement Archive

Tarn Taran police rope in sarpanches to boost testing, vaccination

As Covid continues to spread its tentacles in villages of Punjab, Tarn Taran police have decided to rope in sarpanches and councillors of nagar panchayats to boost testing and vaccination in the rural areas where people have been showing reluctance to adhere to the health department’s guidelines.The police of the district, 87% population of which lives in rural areas, have also identified 80 villages with 300+ population to start special drives with the help of local administration and health department for vaccinating all those aged above 45 years.According to the Punjab health department, the current case fatality rate in Punjab’s rural areas is 2.7% against less than 1% in urban areas. Out of the total 6,416 positive cases in the district, 4,992 were reported from the rural areas. The district has reported 246 deaths in total.The initiative of the Punjab Police comes after it was brought to the fore that most of the people living in the rural areas of Tarn Taran showed reluctance in complying with the mandatory restrictions of the health department. The health officials in Tarn Taran were also “astonished” to find that “deaths in some villages were being underreported” due to the “Covid conspiracy” agenda on social media and an alleged campaign of the farm leaders refusing to accept the severity of the virus. The farmer leaders in Tarn Taran have been mobilising support for organising a huge procession from Harike Pattan town to the national capital against the three farm laws.Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dhruman H Nimbale himself has been holding meetings with 20-25 sarpanches on a daily basis. He has also directed all SPs and DSPs to continue such meetings with all village heads, representatives of panchayati raj and councillors of the nagar panchayats to ensure building of trust for the health department and the government’s efforts to contain the virus.“We are making the sarpanches aware so that they can further ensure proper testing and vaccination in their respective villages. There has been a spread of misinformation about the vaccine on social media. The sarpanches are being told not to believe any misinformation,” said the SSP.A senior medical officer (SMO) said, “Our recently conducted survey showed that people living in rural areas had been preferring quacks instead of approaching hospitals. There have also been reports that many deaths in the district’s villages are being underreported. Police’s action is appreciable, but large scale campaigns are needed to spread the awareness about the severity of Covid.”

Hindustan Times

12-05-2021

Chandigarh