LUDHIANA: A village in Payal constituency of Ludhiana, Bhikhri, has become the first village in Punjab to vaccinate all its adult population against Covid-19.
Payal MLA Lakhvir Singh Lakha said that the population of village Bhikhi is 1,700, out of which 947 residents are above 18 years of age.
Lakha said that barring 18 pregnant women and some people unfit for vaccination due to health issues, all 905 eligible persons have been vaccinated till Saturday.
He said that now all the eligible residents of this village have received atleast one dose of vaccine.
The village kept a celebratory function in this regard where the residents were felicitated by MLA Lakhvir Singh Lakha, ADC (development) Sandeep Kumar, SDM Mankanwal Singh Chahal and others.
Sandeep Kumar said that the village panchayat has thus emerged pioneer among civic bodies eligible for a special grant of Rs 10 lakh, announced earlier by the Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma also congratulated the village residents and urged other villages of Ludhiana district to get vaccinated in large numbers so that we can weed out Covid-19 from our society.
Lakha appreciated the coordinated efforts made by officials led by SDM Mankanwal Singh Chahal in implementing guidelines on prevention of spread of coronavirus in the region.
Lakha said it was due to efforts of the ground level healthcare workers and the panchayat members, that all the 905 eligible beneficiaries of Bhikhi villages were persuaded and vaccinated during camps organised from time to time.
“While the Bhikhi village has already emerged frontier among 100 per cent target achievers, there are many other localities which have crossed 90 per cent mark,” said Lakha maintaining that he had already spoken to concerned authorities for initiation of a process for release of special grant for the village.
SDM Payal Mankanwal Singh Chahal said the target was achieved due to coordinated efforts of officials led by Tehsildar Vikasdeep Singh and BDPO Gurvinder Kaur, who were now all out to get 100 per cent vaccinated status for more villages soon.