Literacy workers carrying a letter written by chief minister Nitish Kumar will go from door to door, urging people to take part in the human chain for prohibition on January 21.
Sources said the state government has sanctioned around Rs 8.6 crore to the education department for organising the event, which is a brainchild of Nitish and in which over two crore people are expected to join hands across the state in a record-setting human chain.
Nitish's letter that the state's 80,000 literacy workers will carry talks about positive changes the society has witnessed after prohibition such as dipping numbers of road accidents, and crime figures.
Literacy workers are contract employees under the education department who educate people at the village level and help get children enrolled in government schools.
The one-page letter says that despite the state government's commitment to enforce the dry law and the people's cooperation for it, a few people are trying to dilute the effects of prohibition.
The literacy workers will visit around 50 houses in each of the state's 45,000 revenue villages, urging them to participate in the human chain either at their village, block or district headquarter or nearby national/state highway.
"The literacy workers will select 50 houses in a revenue village and spread the chief minister's message," said education department secretary Jitendra Srivastava. "They will also undertake a signature campaign to create awareness about the human chain event on January 21."
He added: "Apart from seeking people's participation at the village level, schools have been assigned the task of conducting parent-teacher meetings where the teachers will urge the parents to participate in the human chain event with their children."
Members from Jeevika, a self-help group, have also been roped in to make the event a successful affair.
The state government will provide more funds to the information and public relations department to promote and popularise the human chain campaign, including newspaper advertisements and radio spots, sources said.
Mirza Galib, an official of the directorate of mass education, said: "The education department will carry out a massive campaign creating awareness about the human chain."
The human chain, which is expected to be 11,292km long and out of which 3,700km will be on state and national highways, will be held from 12.15noon to 1pm.
There will be traffic restrictions on the day on major routes through where the human chain will pass. The education department on Thursday wrote a letter to chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and director-general of police P.K. Thakur, urging senior officials to make traffic arrangements on January 21 so that the participants don't face inconvenience.
Five satellites and many drones and helicopters will capture images aerial images of the chain. District magistrates have been asked to prepare micro plans for the event. Three districts that organise the event best will be awarded at the Bihar Divas function on March 22.
On Thursday, Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal conducted a review meeting and said Gandhi Maidan will be the nerve centre of the event where the map of Bihar will be formed through a human chain.
