A health worker in Bundi district of Rajasthan, who himself is in isolation with Covid, has developed a cartoon character called “Shayana Kaka (wise uncle)” to bring home the message of pandemic-appropriate behaviour and guidelines in the local dialect.

In one such cartoon, the character says: “Bimari ko naa chipaao, survey karri Asha behen na jarur apnaa lakshan bato, haspatal su dava lo (Don’t hide the disease, inform the symptoms to Asha worker during surveys, take medicines from a hospital).”

“It is really satisfying that the Shayana Kaka cartoon series on Covid-19 is proving effective in rural areas,” said Sunil Jangid, the artist behind the cartoon series and also a block superviser at a community health centre in Hindoli town.

The series is being shared on social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter with officials and workers in rural areas, who then send it to other local groups, Bundi zilla parishad chief executive officer (CEO) Murlidhar Pratihar said.

Concerned over the increasing spread of the virus in rural areas, the zilla parishad official brought in Jangid to incorporate the guidelines in the local dialect through the cartoon character.

Although Jangid tested positive for the virus on May 5 and was under treatment in home isolation, he started working on the CEO’s idea and has so far developed more than 10 short cartoon episodes with each one depicting Shayana Kaka delivering awareness messages on Covid-19.

Pratihar said more people in the rural areas of the district were now understanding the significance of embracing Covid-19 guidelines and the daily case load had gone down in the last two days.

The district rural development and panchayati raj department has incorporated awareness generation on Covid-19 in its Swachh Bharat Mission campaign and the local cartoon character Shayana Kaka is one such tool to help spread the message, Pratihar said.

“The cartoon series has certainly built up an environment in favour of embracing Covid guidelines against the pandemic,” said Satyaprakesh Sharma, sarpanch of the Bansi gram panchyat in Hindoli block of Bundi district.

He claimed that only 4-5 positive cases have been detected so far among the population of around 5,500 in Bansi village.

Sharma said he receives awareness messages on the Shayana Kaka series on his WhatsApp and Facebook accounts that he later shares with all groups in the village.