Double dose vaccination certificate has been made mandatory for tamers aspiring to participate in jallikattu (bull taming) held during Pongal in the district.
Disclosing this in a press release, Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver said that in view of COVID-19 pandemic, only 300 tamers would be allowed to participate in jallikattu , manjuvirattu and vadamadu and participants should produce the fully vaccinated certificate. They should also undergo COVID-19 test at a government-recognised testing centre and produce a negative certificate.
Vaccination was a must for viewers, bull owners and their assistants, and all of them should undergo thermal scanning and adhere to standard operating procedures such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing at the venue.
Fiat for organisers
The Collector said organisers of the events had been directed to comply with the instructions without fail:
In villages declared to conduct the event, the organisers should produce sanction letters issued by authorities last year along with an undertaking that the event would be organised as per instructions from the State government, a sworn affidavit declaring to take up responsibility of any untoward incident during the event and certificate of insurance for conducting the event and a sketch of the area where it would be held.
In case the event was slated to be held in a village hitherto not declared, organisers should produce documents such as news clippings, photographs of the event, pamphlet, village panchayat resolution and epigraphic evidence to substantiate their claim that j allikattu had been held there in the past.
The applications would be forwarded to the government for verification and issuance of a government order.
Pointing out that the organisers should take up preparatory works only after the issuance of the GO, the Collector said that in addition to these conditions, the list of bull owners, their assistants and details about the cattle should be submitted to the district administration seven days prior to the conduct of the event.
Only those to whom identification cards had been issued by the district administration would be allowed to enter the venue,\. Legal proceedings would be initiated against those who attempted or organised bull taming events without permission from the government, he added.
