Dantewada: Renganar, a small gram panchayat in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, has become the first gram panchayat in the state where 100 per cent adult population of 18-plus and 45-plus has been vaccinated.
The credit goes to the hard-working health workers, the Corona Awareness Team, whose efforts resulted in the vaccination of 294 people despite the vaccine hesitancy among some villagers.
The Bastar division of Chhattisgarh is a stronghold of tribals who make for about 70 per cent of the total population. The living conditions of tribal communities here are uneven, and some are better connected and equipped than others.
There are 310 voters in the tribal-dominated Gram Panchayat, which is located on Nakulnar Road, about 20 km from Dantewada district headquarters. Of these, 294 eligible voters have been vaccinated.
“Internet is not available to everyone in the gram panchayat. So, it was not possible to vaccinate the residents the way it is happening in urban areas. Nevertheless, the villagers got the vaccination done with enthusiasm,” said Dr GC Sharma, Chief Medical Officer of Dantewada, and Dr Sanjay Kumar, a civil surgeon based in Baghel.
At first, the district administration organised several vaccination sessions in Kuakonda for the villagers as people were in a state of confusion and would not come forward for the jabs. Sanmati Telami, Sarpanch of Village Renganar, and the local Corona Awareness Team took the initiative to rid people of this confusion. All of them, with help from the district administration, started going door to door and to make villagers aware of the benefits of vaccination and to persuade them to get the vaccine.
Santram, a member of the awareness team, said there was some hesitation about the vaccine but after counselling people agreed to get the shot.
The vaccine awareness sessions were organised frequently at the vaccination centre in Kuakonda. With everyone’s efforts, success started from day one. On the very first day, 125 villagers got vaccinated. Physically-challenged people also participated enthusiastically in the drive and got vaccinated.
On the last day, when the district level team reached the area to inspect and verify the vaccination of Renganar and learnt that people suffering from serious ailments had not yet taken the shots. They were counselled and eventually got vaccinated.
Deepak Soni, Dantewada District Collector, said the Corona Awareness Team was formed in every panchayat. These teams keep a constant watch on the issues of testing and vaccination. “People were motivated through counseling. As a result, 100 percent of the vaccination has been completed for people of 18 years and above 45 years of age in Renganar,” he said.
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