GUWAHATI: Amidst reports from across the country about people not adhering to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, one idea in the Northeast has taken off – suspect yourself instead of others.
The COVID-19 Adaptive ResponsE or CARE model programme introduced in Nagaland’s Mon district motivates people to switch the onus of being a COVID-19 carrier from others to themselves.
The district has a population of around 2.5 lakh with some 53,000 households. The authorities are seeking to reach out to every individual and want them to behave as if they have COVID-19.
“Suppose, you have COVID-19 and you are at home. We want your behaviour to be such that you don’t pass the virus on to any of your loved ones. We want our people to exhibit the same behaviour no matter where they go. We want them to take their cautiousness and behaviour to a different level,” Mon District Magistrate Thavaseelan K told The New Indian Express.
He said the situation would continue unless a vaccine was discovered and could get worse.
“The only way you can protect yourself is by considering yourself as someone who has the virus. You are carrying the virus but you don’t want to infect anyone else. So, we want to reach out to every single individual of Mon district to ensure that behavioural change. That’s the whole idea. We are involving the Church and apex organisations such as Konyak Union (KU), Konyak Nyupuh Shekho Khong (KNSK), Konyak Students' Union (KSU) and Konyak Baptist Bumeinok Bangjum (KBBB),” the 34-year-old Thavaseelan said.
To create awareness among people, the district authorities are going to take a test of people involving FAQs on the pandemic.
“We want to make people aware and take the message right down to the last person. We will have a pool of officers who will train the ward and village level task forces. We will have a system like a warden for every four-five households. That person will continuously monitor the behaviour of the people and their activities vis-à-vis the SOPs,” Thavaseelan said.
He is a product of the College of Engineering, Guindy, and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. His ingenious efforts towards ensuring maximum financial inclusion, jobs to the unemployed youth and basic approach towards fighting COVID-19 earned him the SKOCH Award recently. It recognises people, projects and institutions that go the extra mile to make India a better nation.