Senapati district police on June 4 announced to reward cash prizes to COVID free villages in the entire district with an aim to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The district police initiated a “COVID Free Village Competition” which began on June 5 and will continue till October 1 for the current year.
Besides the different measures taken up by the state government to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the State, the Senapati district police under the brainchild of its SDPO Ingawale Pravin Dadaso has come up with a unique and interesting way to fight the pandemic.
On June 4, superintendent of police, Senapati M. Pradeep Singh announced the “Covid Free Village Competition” with cash prizes to be implemented in around 170 villages in the district. The officers in charge of different police stations in the district were told to spread the message of the competition.
The first prize will be Rs 10,000, followed by second prize with Rs.7,000, third prize of Rs.5,000 and consolation prizes for the next 10 villages. The result will be declared on October 10,2021 and prize distribution will be done on October 21 on Police commemoration day.
As per the rules set by the district police, the competition will be of 300 marks where 100 marks will be for COVID free village. As a penalty, 10 points will be deducted for every COVID positive case in the village.
Another 100 marks will be attributed for the vaccination percentage of eligible village population (above 18 age). Another 100 marks will be attributed to villages having zero (0) police challan for violating COVID appropriate behaviour.
However, a penalty of five (-5) marks will be deducted for every challan by Police for violation of COVID appropriate behaviour guidelines by villagers.
Independent team of the district police will assess all of the rules based on data provided by the police department and health department from June 5 to October 1. To even out large and small villages, the percentage calculation will be done on population data so that all villages will be at par and will have equal chance to win the competition.
Speaking to the Imphal Free Press, SDPO Senapati district Ingawale Pravin Dadaso said, “The competition will encourage villagers to follow COVID appropriate behaviour at village level so that COVID cases will be near zero”.
Pravin said those villages having recovered COVID patients will also be encouraged to participate in the competition.
Such an initiative, he said, will encourage villagers to stay home and step out only for emergency purposes as the police will challan them for not following COVID appropriate behaviours and quarantine guidelines.
As there are negative marks for each challan, the public will be discouraged to break the COVID appropriate behaviour and that could help curb COVID spread and break the chain, said Pravin.
Since there are also marks allotted for vaccination in the competition, such initiative of the district police will help increase awareness and actual vaccination at village level, he added
The SDPO also invited and encouraged all the villages of Senapati district for the competition to make their village COVID free.
While appreciating the initiative of the district police, president of Senapati District Students Association Pung Mark said, “ The competition is more of an awareness and motivation to the people beyond price”.
Mark said that such initiative will definitely help to reduce COVID cases to some extent in the district.
President of Senapati District Women Association RN Hannah also told this reporter that such initiative is a way forward to curb the spread of COVID 19 in the district. It will encourage even nook and corner villages and even the illiterates to participate in the state collective fight against the pandemic, she added.
There are still some villages where the people are not much aware about COVID-19. Even if curfew and lockdown has been imposed, there will be a few villages where people gathered in numbers, said Hannah.
Since the police department are among the frontline warriors, they will be aware about the ground reality of how people in different villages are responding to the State’s fight against the pandemic, she added.
Hannah also said that such initiative by the district police could be one important way to control and to let the people follow COVID appropriate behaviour.
Hanah said that the district civil voluntary organisations are also doing their best to spread the awareness along with the health department and the district administration.
Informing that educating the villagers in far flung areas, especially the illiterates through social media and media is still a difficult task, Hannah said, “ I hope that people will be more careful and take interest in the collective fight after such competitions have been organise”.
