5 villages boycott pulse polio programme

Wed, Jul 2 12:50 AM

THE NATIONAL polio eradication drive suffered a setback when five villages of this communally sensitive district boycotted the programme on Sunday. As many as 500 families, mostly Muslims, of five villages did not allow administering of polio drops to their children.

They demanded that until their villages were not provided all development facilities, they would not allow their children to get polio drops. When the district authorities did not pay heed to their demands, the residents of Gobardhanpur, Kenthal, Thatauli, Nagla Mohan and Inayatpur villages totally boycotted the pulse polio programme.

According to a report of the Health Department Aligarh, only 53 per cent children could be administered pulse polio drops on Sunday: 3.35 lakh children were administered polio drops. Children of 55, 000 families have not been covered in the recent polio drives.

Besides, 1150 families did not allow their children to be administered polio drops. Most of them were from the Muslim community.

The main reason behind this hesitation is the belief that polio drops would make their children impotent. All efforts by the Health Department and the district administration failed to mobilise Muslim families.

Even appeals by Muslim intellectuals could not bring these families out of their houses on June 29. DM K.R. Mohan Rao said stern action would be taken against those who would oppose the pulse polio eradication programme.

If they refuse to get their children administered polio drops, they would be sent to jail, he added. The residents of Aligarh have now made the pulse polio programme a tool for getting civic amenities and development in their areas.

In the changed atmosphere, most of the villagers and urban residents of Aligarh district have begun demanding all development facilities in their villages before their children are administered polio drops.

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