Bhubaneswar: Information, Education and Communication are key to win over COVID-19 pandemic and check its spread, said Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said today. “An aware and alert community can achieve wonders in our fight against this unseen enemy,” he said. Chief Secretary was reviewing the progress of special IEC campaign – ‘Mu Bi COVID Yoddha’ at the Lok Seva Bhavan here today.
Tripathy directed Panchaytai Raj & Drinking Water, Women & Child Development and Mission Shakti, Housing & Urban Development and Information & Public Relations departments to work tandem at field level in intensifying the campaign through active community involvement. He suggested to organize the ward level COVID Committee meetings this week in both the rural and urban areas.
Secretary Information and Public Relations Department, Sanjay Singh said, “The campaign intends to inculcate the values of self-responsibility with the spirit – ‘Ama Swasthya Ama Hatare’ (our health in our hand). The main themes of the campaign include personal hygiene, hand washing, use of mask, social distancing, care of the old and vulnerable, eradication of social stigma, self-monitoring, community surveillance quarantine and making use of 104 and telemedicine.”
The Government has planned to reach out to each corner of the State and infuse a sense of pride among citizens in adopting social distancing norms. “Intensify the campaign through active involvement of WSHGs, PRIs, VSS, Farmer producer groups and school management committees,” Tripathy added.
Open mikes, social media, posters, audio jingles through AIR and community radio, visual presentations through television, panel discussions in TVs, cartoon web series and You Tube needs to widely used in the campaign, he added. The I&PR department would develop themes relating to different contours of the campaign and diffuse it through media.
Additional Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, Principal Secretary Women & Child Development Anu Garg, Principal Secretary Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, DK Singh, Director I & PR Sri Krupasindhu Mishra, Technical Director Niranjan Sethi along with senior officials were present at the meeting.