BENGALURU: A casual visitor to the rural ramparts may not find a clean bench to sit on; there could be oil on the seat, to signal that sitting is unwelcome behaviour. And cosy chats on the katte under the village banyan tree, where villagers typically gather, are no longer kosher. The Department of Panchayat Raj has come up with novel ways to ensure that people in villages maintain physical distance as they go about their daily chores and social lives. Officials have been told to mark circles six feet apart at such spots so that people who come to worship, or simply chat, maintain the minimum distance, said a senior department official who requested anonymity.
The department has issued a circular mandating that over 6,000 gram panchayats -- with each panchayat a cluster of four or five villages -- in the State take measures to ensure that people maintain physical distance in public places and also educate people about its necessity.Panchayat officials are banking on conventional and unconventional ways to encourage people to adapt to the new normal. Arrangements have been made to make soap and water available at the bus stand and other public places, so that people wash their hands regularly. To tom-tom the message of safety, social distancing and hygiene, it’s the village drums. “In villages, technology might not work. So we are adopting the traditional way to keep them safe,” an official said.
They have also been instructed to levy a fine of Rs 100 if people don’t wear masks. The circular directs officials to distribute masks free of cost to the poor and needy. Principal Secretary for Panchayat Raj Uma Mahadevan said that self-help groups in the state are producing lakhs of masks.
“Gram Panchayats can procure masks from SHGs or any other local source. A large number of GPs have procured them from local SHGs,” she said.And last, but not the least, the town crier, who went out of fashion some time ago. Panchayats have been asked to appoint people for this post, just so that everybody gets the message.