In a unique attempt to encourage people of rural area to follow appropriate COVID-19 behaviour, the Maharashtra government  announced a “corona free village” contest.

Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif stated that the “corona free village” contest is part of the initiative announced by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The village panchayat which wins the first prize will get Rs 50 lakh, second of Rs 25 lakh and third of Rs 15 lakh.

The prizes will be given to three village panchayats which are doing commendable job in regards to COVID-19 management in each revenue division.

There will be a total of 18 prizes as there are six revenue divisions in the state, the rural development minister said.

The villages which win the contest will also get an additional amount equivalent to the prize money as encouragement, and it will be utilised for development works in those villages, the minister said.

“The villages which win the contest will also get an additional amount equivalent to the prize money as encouragement, and it will be utilised for development works in those villages,” Mushrif said.

Earlier, Thackeray had announced a ‘Corona-free village’ drive to check the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas of Maharashtra.

Notably, the Maharashtra chief minister on May 31 expressed concern over the heavy vehicular traffic in Mumbai and warned that his government would be forced to impose lockdown-like restrictions if such a situation continues.

Maharashtra on June 1 recorded 14,123 new COVID-19 cases, taking the caseload to 57,61,015. 

As per the health department, 35,949 patients were discharged from hospitals on Tuesday, taking number of recovered cases to 54,31,319.

Maharashtra has 2,30,681 active cases, according to the data available so far.

The health department stated that the COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 94.28 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.67 per cent.