Authorities in India are trying to enforce lockdown measures with a strict hand, fining and punishing those who are defying social distancing and COVID-19 lockdown measures.?
Videos and images of cops coming up with new ways, such as performing aarti of offenders, are going viral on the social media.?
However, one Kerala village has come up with a unique way to make people stay at home. It is believed that instead of punishing children for bad behavior, it is better to give them incentive for positive behavior for encouragement and that is a practice this Kerala village intends to employ.?
When the lockdown norms came into effect last month, the Thazhekkode Grama Panchayat in Malappuram district of Kerala decided to have a different approach to maintain lockdown.
The panchayat planned to reward families who will not step out of their homes during the lockdown.
The first prize for the ¡®contest¡¯ is half a sovereign of gold, second prize is a refrigerator, third prize is a washing machine and 50 complimentary prizes would be given when the lockdown ends, according to IANS.?
A.K. Nasar, president of the grama panchayat, said he needed to reward people who follow the guidelines.?
"This plan was decided on April 6 and the next day it became effective. There are around 10,000 families in our panchayat. We wanted people to remain safe and stay indoors and for that we decided to reward them. We have set up people to observe all those who venture out of their homes and the families of those who come out, will be ruled out," IANS quoted Nasar as saying.?
However, when the lockdown extended, so did the contest winner declaration date. "Now the lockdown has been extended and now we will take a call on when the contest should end. Most probably, we feel this contest will end on May 3. This will be decided by our panchayat. Once the contest ends, we will ask for an affidavit from all those who come claiming that none in their family have ventured out. Coupons will be given to all such families and the winners will be selected through a lucky draw," Nasar further said.
This idea to give incentive? people who adhere to rules is brilliant - some other villages which are finding it hard to implement lockdown rules can learn and implement the same tactic!?