Priests turn myth-busters, ask MP tribals to get jabbed

BHOPAL: Tribal priests in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district have donned the role of myth busters, going village to village to combat superstitions about Covid vaccines and encourage tribals to take the shot.
Never before have these priests — known as ‘bhumkas’ or ‘bhagats’ — battled for any vaccine in this way. And it’s paying off. Tribals in 30 villages, who were earlier reluctant to take the vaccine, are now ready and willing, collector Amanveer Singh told TOI.
In Betul’s tribal regions, there are at least 25 panchayats where no one has been vaccinated, the collector said. Another 47 have less than 5% vaccination, primarily because of rumours related to Covid vaccines.
To counter this, the administration reached out to local religious heads, who readily agreed to spread awareness. Now, officials are sharing videos of these ‘bhagats’ on social media, urging people to get vaccinated in local dialect.
“The government is running this vaccination drive for your safety,” Sagan Marskole, the ‘bhumka’ of Junapani village, is heard saying in Gondi dialect in one such video. Gondi is spoken by majority of tribals in Betul. Videos of 14 such tribal religious priests are being circulated along with videos of tribals’ first-hand accounts of being vaccinated.
In Borgaon village, for instance, there were rumours of post-vaccination deaths, which were baseless, said Parvat Rao Dhote of Borgaon. “Around 30 deaths took place in the past two months, four of them due to Covid-19. Only one elderly person, who was vaccinated, died but due to natural causes. Our panchayat was aware of this, and people got themselves vaccinated,” he told TOI. Betul collector Amanveer Singh told TOI that the bhumkas’ word is aiding the vaccination drive.
“Traditionally, tribals have their own parallel health system and beliefs, and if some information comes fromthere, it has its effects. We identified local priests, held meetings with them, convinced them, and they are now spreading awareness. Targeted vaccination is being carried out in villages where there is a mixed ratio of tribal and non-tribal population. When those people are getting vaccinated, it is creating awareness in neighbouring tribal villages,” Singh said.
It’s already paying off, said the collector. “In the past 10 days, there is a noticeable change in mindset. We did a survey in 47 villages where vaccination percentage was low. People in 30 of these villages are now ready for vaccination and said they would get vaccinated if camps are organised,” he added.