SHILLONG: As COVID infections have been rampaging the country, much of it owes it to poor adherence to health protocols by the citizens. Meghalaya is no exception.
A sizeable section has been paying scant attention to the advisories to wear face masks and they seem to get away without any check. With no law in place the authorities have not been able to come down seriously on the violators.
The photo (alongside) taken on the streets of Shillong recently are a sure evidence of the nonchalant attitude of some residents, despite an appreciable surge in COVID positive cases in the state.
Since by law wearing a mask is not mandatory, an out of the box idea is called for. The novel punishment system in Indonesia for violators of health protocols is worth a look.
In Jakarta authorities are getting hold of every such violator and making them lie inside a dummy coffin. Inside the open coffin, they are asked to count from 1 to 100, so at least it dawns on them what the possibility of being laid inside a real coffin feels like unless they are careful.
The video shot of the punishment is promptly uploaded in social media to publicise the “punishment”.
Even more macabre message in Indonesia is holding “coffin parades” through the busy thoroughfares with dummy bodies to scare people into following the protocols.
The Coffin Punishment has been a great ploy for Indonesia and has been serving its purpose of putting across a morbid message of death as an inevitable fate of human life. However, there are some who think this was “fear mongering” and creating “panic”
Meghalaya may be the least affected in the country by novel coronavirus, but to try something novel to put the message across is worth giving a thought to.
If something as stunning as happens in Indonesia is not desirable, the least that Meghalaya can do is officially proclaim that violation of health protocols is a punishable offence and show by action that it means business.