The United States of America has vaccinated over 70 percent of its population against Covid-19 infection. A major factor being cited for such stupendous success of their vaccination program is President Joe Biden’s offer of free beer and a free ticket to the $1million lottery to every person taking vaccine shot. Australian PM Scott Morrison too has been offering complimentary beer in certain pubs for vaccine jabs. India might not have started any such scheme, but Tashi Wangchhu Thongdok has started his own incentive scheme to improve vaccination density.
Mr. Tashi is not a very high-ranking officer but his innovative thinking has been bringing smiles to the faces of both the people and the administration. He is the circle officer of the Yazali block in Arunachal Pradesh and has been doling out 20 Kg free rice to every person volunteering for Covid-19 vaccination.
Let’s first find out where is Yazali on India’s map. In the easternmost state of the country, Arunachal Pradesh, Lower Subansiri is one of the 25 districts having its headquarters at Ziro. The district has a population of 83,030 and is divided into eight different blocks, with each block assigned to a circle officer who takes care of the people’s needs in his region.
Circle officer of Yazali block, Mr. Tashi Wangchhu Thongdok has surprised many by his innovative thinking in protecting and treating people from the Covid-19 pandemic. And that included offering various incentives to promote vaccination in his block. In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, the officer talked about his incentive-giving idea in detail.
FREE RICE FOR THE VACCINATED
In a block meeting, Mr. Thongdok observed that majority of people of his district were reluctant to get vaccinated due to a lack of awareness and skepticism. He wanted to get vaccinated as many people as possible in the soonest possible time.
To do so, he realized that he will have to provide an incentive to people so that they come out in large numbers and take the vaccine. Therefore, he selected a particular week and circulated a notice that anybody who volunteered for vaccination during that week, will receive 20 kilograms of free rice from the authorities.
REACHING FAR FLUNG AREAS
In the first three days, the staff was able to vaccinate 95 individuals as it was raining continuously and the vaccination centers became inaccessible to people living in extremely remote areas. When the rain ceased a bit, the administration decided to reach the people living in areas so remote that the residents were unable to come and get the vaccine.
“I provided 10 kilograms of rice to each person that we visited at their home. Furthermore, I created awareness among them regarding vaccination and tried to make them understand that we shouldn’t believe everything that is regulated on social media. They were also told about the positive aspects of the vaccine,” stated the officer.
FURTHER INCENTIVE
On the fifth day of the ‘incentive campaign,’ the officer was able to vaccinate about 70 individuals and was able to increase the vaccination percentage. The entire first campaign saw the vaccination of over 160 individuals.
After a week, when the scheme came to its end, Mr. Thongdok came up with another well-thought scheme wherein he announced financial incentive and a certificate of appreciation from the Deputy Commissioner and District Medical Officer, to all the people of the village that succeeds in 100% vaccination in all age categories.
The second campaign is going on in full swing in the block, at present.
COOPERATION OF PEOPLE
The Yazali block that Mr. Thongdok is administering contains a population of 10,000 people. To save all of them from getting infected with the virus, the officer announced a strict full lockdown in the entire block.
He, along with his team, traveled through rice fields, visited the farmers and people working on land and raised awareness about the benefits of lockdown. He also set up vaccination camps in the field itself and vaccinated people on the spot.
“Thankfully, the people were very cooperative and abided by the rules. We did a mass testing in the region to check if the virus has taken its roots here, about which some people were also reluctant but through appropriate awareness, we were able to smoothly make our way through,” Mr. Thongdok told Indian Masterminds.
Soon, the district will complete its course and will vaccinate all the people above 18 years of age.
