To incentivise villages to give up vaccine hesitancy, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announced a special development grant of Rs.10 lakh to every village that achieves 100% vaccination target under the state government’s ‘Corona Mukt Pind Abhiyan’.
The Chief Minister urged village sarpanches and panches across the state to motivate people to undergo testing, even in case of mild symptoms, and get themselves vaccinated.
He was interacting virtually with Panchayats represented by more than 2,000 heads or members across over 4,000 live locations in the rural parts of Punjab. He informed them that his government had already sanctioned permission for sarpanches to utilize up to Rs.5,000 per day from Panchayat funds for emergency Covid treatment, up to a maximum of Rs.50,000.
Underlining the need to sensitize the rural population about Covid-19, he asked the Panchayats to organize special medical camps, and to rope in the services of ex-servicemen.
He also asked the sarpanches and panches to start ‘theekri pehra’ in their villages to prevent infected persons from coming in, and also distribute Fateh Kits to every person who tests positive, besides ensuring proper treatment in case oxygen saturation level goes below 94%.
Pointing out that Punjab has an extensive healthcare network with 2,046 health and wellness centres, and another 800 to be made functional soon, he asked the sarpanches and panches to avail the healthcare services at these centres for the treatment of villagers infected with corona.
The Chief Minister further said that the state government was making all-out efforts to procure sufficient stocks of vaccines for the 18+ and 45+ age groups.
Calling for collective efforts and cooperation, the Chief Minister said, “I can’t do anything as a Captain alone. The concerted efforts jointly put in by the team will help us achieve our goal”.
While Covid cases came down from a daily average of around 9000 to 6947 on May 17, the situation continued to be grim, with many people dying, mainly because they were seeking medical intervention too late. This, the Punjab CM said, was evident from the fact with 64% occupancy of level 2 beds and 85% at level 3.
The Chief Minister exhorted villagers to strictly adhere to the health protocols and guidelines issued by the state government and avail the 24×7 helpline ‘104’ for assistance, the Punjab Police Bhojan Helpline ‘112’, and food kits being provided by the state and Centre.
Earlier, Rural Development & Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa advised people not to rely on quacks but to consult doctors in government primary health centres in rural areas.
Health & Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that the health department had already placed an order for 12 lakh Rapid Antigen Test kits and emphasised on the need to further intensify the efforts to launch a vigorous door-to-door campaign for testing in villages.
Advisor to Health Department Dr K. K. Talwar briefly outlined the action plan to control the spread of Covid-19 in the villages.
Several sarpanches also gave their suggestions on strengthening the existing healthcare infrastructure in the villages and apprised the Chief Minister about the steps undertaken by them.