The ruling BJP in Assam on Sunday carried out an awareness drive in the state’s rural areas on Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, a move which has become imperative to stop the virus from spreading to the hinterland.
The state BJP unit carried out the campaign to mark the seventh anniversary of the Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre.
Assam reported 5,613 new Covid cases and 77 deaths on Saturday. There are 54,948 active cases in the state at present.
Party insiders said the campaign has given them the opportunity to establish contact with the rural folks who voted overwhelmingly for the BJP-led alliance in the March-April polls, especially in Upper Assam, including North Bank, the hill districts and Barak Valley in south Assam.
There are total 26,395 villages in Assam under 2,202 goan panchayats.
Four-time Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan said the drive was conducted across the state to check the spread of the virus in the interior areas.
“I visited two panchayat areas under my constituency, including two tea gardens and distributed masks, sanitisers, fruits and frooti (a mango-flavoured soft drink). I appealed to the people to stick to the Covid-19 behaviour and maintain social distancing. This is the only precaution to contain the pandemic besides inoculating themselves,” Phukan said.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday visited the Maa Kamakhya Old Age Home run by Golaghat Mahila Nirman Got at Panjabari and enquired about the well-being of the inmates and distributed fruits, food items, masks and sanitisers.
BJP insiders said the state government is focussing on checking Covid in tea gardens by speeding up vaccination drive, which is hampered because of vaccine shortage.
Tea gardens have reported over 6,000 Covid-19 cases. To expedite the drive, the state is facilitating onsite registration for tea garden workers and their families.
The vaccination drive in the 18 to 44 age group, too, has suffered because of the vaccine shortage, but the government is hopeful things would improve by the first week of June. The state hopes to inoculate at least 50 per cent of the state’s over 3.2 crore population by July.
Sarma also visited the Guwahati Medical College Hospital to discuss deputation of doctors at the 300-bed Covid hospital being set up by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) at Sarusajai Sports Complex and the additional 200 ICU beds unit coming up at the GMCH.
The chief minister is hopeful that Covid-19 positivity rate as well as mortality rate would see a significant fall by June 7. The positivity rate was 4.82 per cent till Saturday.
