When it comes to administer polio vaccine to prevent children from contracting the disease, even dreaded Naxalites prefer to put their guns down in Chhattisgarh.
If the state health officials are to be believed, the Naxalites are not a stumbling block to administer polio vaccine in the red zone of Bastar though other health services have been affected in the pockets under Naxalite sway.
The first phase of this year's pulse polio drive in the state started today. The second phase will be on February 7.
The Naxalites are not affecting the pulse polio drive and the field staffers are discharging their duties effectively in the entire Bastar region, Health Deputy Director and State Expanded Programme on Immunization Officer (SEPIO) Dr Subhash Pandey said. About 3,50,000 children below the age of five years will be administered polio vaccine in Bastar region--the country's worst Naxal-infested pocket. The health department has made all necessary preparations to conduct the drive.
Normally, the Naxalites do not cause any harm even as the campaighn volunteers move freely in the disturbed areas, Pandey said, adding that the department had arranged vehicles in the interior areas to bring the children to the nearest polio booths.
Apart from the polio drive, the overall health services in the interior areas of Bastar have been affected in the areas where the rebels have their presence.
Though the rebels have never targeted the health infrastructure, threats from them have overshadowed services. Let alone the interior areas, even in the district and block headquarters, health services are in bad shape,Dantewada Superintendent of Police Amresh Mishra said. Police had to wait for days to conduct a postmortem of jawan killed in violence, he added.
