To mark World Diabetes Day, a panchayat in Kerala on Sunday observed a sugar 'hartal'.
Households and shops in Kanichar Gram Panchayat on the rural parts of Kannur district in north Kerala were urged by the panchayat to say no to sugar during the day.
The initiative received much support with no sweets being distributed even at the marriage of a couple Limna and Ajish at Elapedika on Sunday, said panchayat president Antony Sebastian.
Sebastian told DH that the number of diabetes patients was on a rise following the Covid-19 outbreak as the routine lifestyle of the people were affected. Hence, the panchayat thought of launching some serious awareness programmes against diabetes. Subsequently, health inspector E J Agustine came up with the idea of sugar 'hartal'.
All the 5,000 odd households and around 400 shops in the panchayat were urged not to use sugar during the day. Hotels were urged only to serve tea and coffee without sugar and shops urged not to sell sugar. The response from the people was quite good as many were suffering from diabetes, said Sebastian.
The panchayat that was under Congress rule for more than four decades in a row was won by the CPM in the last local body election.
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