Yesterday I was asked to participate in a meeting that discussed the coming together of minds to effectively propagate the message for the need for “Social Distancing” as an effective means of warding off the coronavirus. The concern at the highest level was that the message does not seem to be getting through to the people and that there needs to be a concerted effort to reach out to the general public to encourage them to practice social distancing.
This is really worrisome. But to get to understand why this very important safety protocol is not followed, despite so much material - both visual and verbal being put out in the public domain, we need to consider the manner in which the messages are transmitted.
The most effective medium of dissemination of knowledge and awareness is through the BBS TV. It is said that 62.2% of the Bhutanese people live in the rural areas. This means the bulk of the viewers are in the villages.
Therefore, it is quite possible that the habit of social distancing has not been picked up by the rural population because they are clueless about the awareness messages transmitted by the BBS TV. The reason: the BBS TV has no segment in other regional languages – they speak only in Dzongkha, which is not understood by close to three-fourth of the population.
Is it possible that if the awareness messages are also simultaneously broadcast in regional languages, things could improve for the better? Please remember, Dzongkha may be the official language but all other languages spoken within the country are also national languages. Thus it cannot be unlawful to transmit in other regional languages – what matters is that a larger viewership could understand and benefit from the efforts of the authorities.
This is my introductory contribution towards fulfillment of my new found responsibility.