The district administrations in Jharkhand are offering lucrative incentives to the rural populace to overcome their vaccine hesitancy as more and more villages are inching towards 100 per cent vaccination coverage.

“Incentives are helping us increase the rate of vaccination as people are now turning up at (vaccination centres) at a faster rate. This is further dispelling their fear of vaccination and bridge the gap created by misinformation spread by some elements,” said West Singhbhum deputy commissioner Ananya Mittal.

West Singhbhum has some of the most remote villages located in dense forest terrain bordering Sundergarh and Keonjhar (both in Odisha).

Tricycles being distributed among the disabled at a vaccine centre in rural pocket of West Singhbhum district on Tuesday. Bhola Prasad

In one initiative in West Singhbhum, a petrol pump in Chakradharpur sub-division has started giving one litre petrol/diesel free to customers on producing the vaccination certificate.

“We have also managed to motivate traders through chambers of commerce to give a five to 10 per cent discount to people above 45 years for a specified period if they get vaccinated,” said Mittal.

The authorities are also trying to disburse seeds to farmers and distribute tricycles to the physically challenged at a few vaccination centres to attract more people.

“We also train two teachers per block who in turn train three teachers per panchayat regarding the importance of vaccination. Now they are conducting village meetings to make people aware about the facts,” added Mittal.

The efforts are bearing fruit with West Singhbhum placed in third position in terms of total number of eligible people vaccinated (4,170) on June 15 behind East Singhbhum (7,108) and Ranchi (5,401).

Banmara under Kullukera panchayat in Simdega district, one of the farthest villages located along the Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh border, got all its eligible beneficiaries vaccinated on June 11.

Even residents of Jinsjarakani village in Kurdeg block of Simdega district, along the Jharkhand-Odisha border, have shown the same resolve to attain 100 per cent vaccination against Covid-19.

“These villages, some of which are the remotest and farthest, have become a role model for others. The people of these villages actively participated in the inoculation drive and achieved 100 per cent vaccination coverage.

“After a few awareness drives by the administration, people of these villages realised the importance of vaccination for their safety. Ranga panchayat of Masaliya block in Dumka is also heading towards 100 per cent vaccination. Panchayats like Shikaripara and Gandrakpur, which are situated at the farthest point of the districts have also achieved more than 80 per cent vaccination,” said health department nodal officer (information, education and communication), Siddharth Tripathy.

Agriculture seeds distributed to farmers at a vaccine centre in rural pocket of West Singhbhum district on Tuesday Bhola Prasad

Several other villages are moving towards 100 per cent vaccination.

Garu block of Latehar district is a Maoist-affected area with a population of nearly 36,000. Almost 50 per cent of the 18-plus population of this block have received the vaccine.

The district administration is running intensive awareness campaigns across the block. Every day, a rise in vaccination coverage is being recorded. Awareness campaigns run by the government in native and regional languages are helping people understand the benefits of the vaccine. Myths and fallacies related to the Covid-19 vaccine are being brought to light among the rural population of the state.

The Dumka district administration in Santhal Pargana region, having multiple panchayats with more than 75 per cent to 80 per cent vaccination coverage, is running an intensive awareness drive.

In addition to weekend vaccination mass drives being organised across the state, the Dumka administration is also organising awareness camps.

Officials and local people are taking part in the awareness camps and encouraging more beneficiaries to come to vaccination centres to get their shots.