RAJKOT: Heard of the aphorism, ‘Never send a man in to do the donkey’s job’? Well, in Amreli it’s a role reversal! A donkey, no herd of donkeys will be sent to do men’s job — of enforcing Covid rules among the villagers.
And how? The beast of burden will perform a “shame parade” in front of the offenders’ houses and try to infuse Covid sense into humans! The decree of the
gram panchayat also includes paying Rs 1,000 as fine! The die has been cast with traditional drummers announcing the decree around the streets of Jabad village.
The remote village of Amreli with a
population of roughly 1,800 to 2,000 people couldn’t find a better way to tackle the menace of violations and enforcing Covid protocols strictly but by invoking the donkeys to bring shame to the families who do not follow it. Apart from levying a fine of Rs 1,000 from Covid guidelines violators, the “shame” will be deepened by the march of the donkeys, said sarpanch Bhupendra Khuman who authored the interesting punishment.
“First time violators will be asked to pay a fine of Rs 1,000. But, if he or she continues to violate the rules, a herd of donkeys will be sent to their houses to shame them,” Khuman said, adding that paying a monetary fine is always an easy escape.
“After paying fine one gets the liberty to break rule again. But the ignominy of being publicly shamed will have a deeper impact psychologically and people will be more conscious and understand the importance of following the guidelines,” the village chief added.
So far, the village has not reported a single Covid case and the panchayat wants to ensure nobody gets infected.
One-third of the village’s population migrates to bigger cities in search of jobs. To make sure that those who return to their homes from cities too do not become super-spreaders, the gram panchayat keeps a record of all those who come from outside.