Make Your Village ‘Corona Free’, Win Rs. 50 Lakh: Maharashtra Government

Mumba: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday (June 2) announced a “corona free village” contest with an aim to encourage steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas of the state. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray recently lauded efforts made by some villages to stem the spread of the viral infection and announced the “My Village Corona Free “initiative.

Also Read: No Room For Complacency, We Are Preparing For Third COVID-19 Wave: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

The “corona free village” contest is part of the initiative announced by the chief minister, state Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif said in a statement. Prizes will be given to three village panchayats doing good work in COVID-19 management in each revenue division.

The first prize will be of Rs. 50 lakh, second of Rs. 25lakh and third of Rs. 15 lakh, the minister said. There are six revenue divisions in the state, hence there will be a total of 18 prizes.

The total prize money is Rs. 5.4 crore, he said. The villages which win the contest will also get an additional amount equivalent to the prize money as encouragement, and it will be utilised for development works in those villages, the minister said.

The participating villages will be judged on 22 criteria, he said, adding that a committee will be set up to judge the villages. Thackeray in a virtual address on Sunday lauded Ruturaj Deshmukh (21), the youngest sarpanch in Maharashtra, and his task force to keep their Ghatne village in Solapur district free of coronavirus. On Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded 14,123 new COVID-19cases, taking the infection tally to 57,61,015, while 477fresh deaths and another 377 deaths previously unreported pushed the fatality count to 96,198, as per official data.

Also Read: Anupam Kher Donates Oxygen Concentrators, Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure Machines To Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation For COVID Crisis

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.