Amid reports of Covid 19 virus spreading in rural areas of Jharkhand, the government has changed its strategy to create awareness among rural population as the agencies of the State government are reaching and communicating to rural population in the local languages.
The Information Public Relation Department (IPRD) of Jharkhand responsible for dissemination of correct information in the State has prepared a huge digital and printed database prepared in local tribal language and district
administrations too have been asked to reach people in their local languages.
“If you want people to understand and act upon your appeal talk to them in their language. This is the basic principle of mass communication. Hindi and English may work well in urban areas. So, in order to reach rural tribal populations, we prefer tribal languages,” said an official of the state government.
IPRD has prepared materials in Mundari, Santhali, Kurukh, Ho, Kharia, Nagpuri and others. In the rural areas there is still confusion among people and due to lack of sufficient and correct information people are either ignorant or they don’t take it seriously.
People still don’t understand that cough, cold and fever can be symptoms of Covid 19 and they need to contact their nearest health centre and isolate themselves. People of rural areas are still not aware of the importance of vaccination.
Now the district and health department administration teach them the importance of vaccination.
“We tell people that Covid 19 vaccine is a lifesaver and the government is committed to vaccinate entire population as early as possible,” said the official.
One such awareness literature read ‘tika autey sanjeevani leche rai…Corona haro kalo Jharkhand jito kalo’ (vaccine is like panacea…Corona will be defeated and Jharkhand will win).
This is because of the reason people of rural areas are still unaware or suspicious about the vaccine. It asks people to participate in vaccination and trust the government taking all necessary steps to save their life.