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Bollywood actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the polio eradication campaign, Farooq Shaikh, kicked off a fresh polio immunisation drive in Varanasi on Sunday.

He began the exercise by administering polio drops to an infant at the Government Women's Hospital in the Kabirchaura area. Divisional Commissioner VV Singh Vishwen, District Magistrate Rajiv Agarwal, Chief Medical Officer of Varanasi Dr SK Mishra, Unicef State representative Dr Nimal Hitachi, Sharmila Sharma and Dr SC Joshi were among those present on the occasion.

Shaikh called upon people to ensure polio drops were administered to their infants. He  went to several booths in the Muslim dominated localities of Madanpura and Reori Talab. There, he tried to raise awareness about the need to administer polio drops to children.

He visited five polio booths in 'high-resistance' areas like Devnathpura, Madanpura, Allu Mosque in Jagjiwanpura area, Janata Hospital in Malti Bagh and Benaras Public Hospital in Reori Talab area. He also visited the houses of families who had resisted the drive and urged them to ensure polio drops were given to their wards.                 

Shaikh had arrived in the city on Saturday.

Meanwhile, lakhs of children below the age of five years were administered polio drops during the current round of immunisation on Sunday. In all, 1883 polio booths were set up in the urban and the rural areas of Varanasi.

As many as 1078 polio booths were set up in the rural areas alone.    

Twenty-four mobile teams were formed in rural and urban areas. A door-to-door campaign will be launched on Monday.