Okrabari (Cooch Behar), June 20: They have always boycotted polio camps and preferred quacks to doctors, but today Okrabari residents bailed out the district blood bank in its hour of crisis.

More than 150 donors from the area, all from the minority community and most of them housewives, today answered the district hospital authorities’ appeals and queued up to replenish the stock of blood at Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Hospital.

Around 35 km from the heritage town, Okrabari has a history health officials did not care to talk about, until today.

“Residents never turn up for polio drives and turn to quacks to cure ailments. There are even instances of men divorcing their spouses after learning that they had administered polio drops to their children,” a health official said. “That is why their response came as a pleasant surprise.”

The unexpected response came after the hospital authorities went around the district appealing to the public over loudspeakers to donate blood and writing to NGOs to come forward in the time of crisis and help restock the blood bank.

“We have been moved by the manner in which Muslim women and young girls have come to donate blood. They have set an example for people of this area to donate blood voluntarily,” said Sarojkanti Deb, the district officer of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes welfare department.

Even Sonab Uddin Ahmed, the president of a local Other Backward Classes welfare society, did not expect such a response.

“When we heard that the district blood bank had run almost dry, we got in touch with the people of our community and told them about the importance of donating blood. Women and the young folk responded instantly. We never thought that there would be such a reaction, particularly among the housewives,” he said.

District health authorities said this was proof that people in the area were gradually trying to break free from the “shackles of superstition”.

Sajeda Begum’s reason for coming to donate blood, offers credence to the health authorities’ theory.

“Most people in our area are superstitious. They are willing to risk their children’s lives and health because of baseless beliefs. I feel very bad when I hear about parents staying away from polio camps and so, when our community leaders told us about the blood donation camp today, I readily agreed. Apart from doing a good deed, I wanted others to feel confident about modern healthcare and trust doctors,” the 42-year-old woman said.

Thirty-year-old Marjina Bibi echoed Sajeda. “I do not care if my husband divorces me for donating blood. My friends and I have decided that we will donate our blood whenever required,” she said.

The camp was held in front of the local panchayat office and supervised by personnel from the Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Hospital blood bank.

“We are proud to see this level of consciousness among the people of this area,” said Dinhata subdivisional officer Kajal Bandyopadhyay.

“The bank ran dry because the polls held up all voluntary donation camps,” a source said. “The secondary and higher secondary examinations compounded the problem.”