Officials at Vaitheeshwarankoil town panchayat have taken to conducting street plays to create awareness of COVID-19 protocol, including mask-wearing, and the importance of getting vaccinated as way to fight the viral infection. The street plays are conceptualised and enacted by the workers themselves.
The move, initiated by K. Kuhan, Executive Officer, Vaitheeshwarankoil, in Mayiladuthurai district, is meant to inculcate the importance of vaccination to the people in the town. Prior to the awareness programmes, only a handful of people used to visit the vaccination site to get inoculated. “We had an average of 30 people per day. The health workers used to get disappointed and return. However, after the awareness programme was started, the number of beneficiaries far exceeds the daily stock,” Mr. Kuhan says with pride.
On Friday, 400 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were brought to the vaccination site. However, over 1,000 people lined up to get the shot. “The crowd was a display of the success of our awareness campaign,” Mr. Kuhan said.
The town panchayat workers themselves worked on the props used in the street play. A PVC pipe was fashioned into a syringe, a water can turned into a vial of COVID-19 vaccine, and cane baskets were turned into a 3-D model of coronavirus.
The workers themselves decided on their costumes, script and dialogues and presented them to the people. Mr. Kuhan climbed up on a vehicle and spoke about the importance of the vaccine as they drove around town. “We have decided to do this thrice a week and have received appreciation from far and wide for not hiring actors and utilising our own resources,” he said.
