Panchayat workers turn into actors for a cause

They conduct street plays to create awareness of COVID-19 protocol

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.