If pictures can speak a thousand words, why not put them to good use in the current crisis?

Union health and science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday launched the Covid Katha, a multimedia guide on Covid-19 in which visual representation of themes, developed and researched by Assam-based Dr Anamika Ray Memorial Trust (ARMT) team and illustrated by Assam cartoonist Nituparna Rajbongshi, have been used to spread the message of science and health in simple ways.

Vardhan said the book is extremely useful and an exemplary science communication solution for the people at large in the current scenario.

“It is freely accessible on smart phones, desktop computers as well as other electronic devices. This creative communication channel may help numerous corona warriors and have far reaching efforts of building mass awareness on the current health and social crisis. It is designed to educate on the objective interpretation of scientific aspects. I am hopeful this resource will strengthen public understanding of science and health in the special context of Covid-19,” Vardhan said.

The project was conceptualised by Manoj Kr Patairiya, the head of the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), DST, government of India and produced by a team of ARMT, Guwahati headed by Ankuran Dutta, the managing trustee.

Dutta, a recipient of the National Award for Science Communication, 2018 from the government of India, said the Trust has been trying to provide authentic information regarding Covid-19 in different ways.

“The ARMT team has tied up with local newspapers and news portals to publish several strips to keep in check the spread of fake news. Covid Katha is a dream project to disseminate authentic information on Covid-19 in a very simple way for the common masses using interactive multimedia technology,” Dutta said.

The book is written in both English and Hindi.

The characters have been illustrated by Rajbongshi, who hails from Barpeta district, while Guwahati-based Sanjib Bora is the graphic designer.

Rajbongshi said there are altogether 26 cartoons carrying important information on the A-to-Z of Covid-19 in the multimedia guide and one is on the back cover. “The book was a collaborative work,” he said.

The cartoons are backed by facts and figures researched by the ARMT team, comprising Dutta, professor Anupa Lahkar Goswami from Gauhati University and research scholar Raja Das.