Spread awareness on dengue, get awarded: KMC to Puja organisers

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken a unique step to give awards to the Durga Puja committees that will spread awareness campaign against dengue.

The award will be called "Swastha Bandhab Sarad Samman 2018".

Atin Ghosh, Member Mayor-in-Council (health) held a meeting with Puja committee organisers on Tuesday afternoon and discussed in detail the anti-dengue campaign. The committees will conduct house-to-house campaigns on October 4 and 5 and on October 7 they will organise camps as part of the campaign. The committees will have to submit photographs and video clippings to the KMC. The latter will supply the publicity materials free of cost.

The city will be divided into eight zones, each comprising two boroughs. The Puja committees will have to ensure that the premises are clean and there is no accumulation of water. From every borough, five Puja committees will be recommended for final selection. Three Puja committees from every zone, i.e. 24 of them, will get "best three" award. Apart from this, three Puja committees from each zone will get "Mayor's choice". The "best three" Pujas will get Rs 30,000 cash award while the committees that will get "Mayor's best" will get Rs 5000 cash award.

The awards will be given on October 11 and on the day of Panchami. The Puja committees will have to apply between September 18 and 24. The campaign materials will have to be collected from the ward health office between September 28 and October 1 from 10 am to 1 pm.

Massive campaigns have been carried out against dengue throughout the state.

Ghosh said that the Puja committees are directly connected with the households as a result of which, the KMC decided to use them to carry out the campaign.