Gwalior, Dec 6 (IANS): Now people in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior will have to write an essay on Covid-19 as a punishment for violating the Covid norms. The violators will be put in open jails, the district administration has said.

Gwalior District Magistrate Kaushlendra Vikram Singh said the district authorities have launched a "Roko-Toko" campaign to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Under the initiative, people were being made aware of Covid norms, besides being penalised for flouting the rules and then sent to open jail.

On Saturday, at least 20 people were sent to the open prison at the Captain Roop Singh stadium and were made to write an essay on Covid.

Singh said many people in Gwalior were not adhering to the social distancing norms, and some of them could be spotted without face masks or many just hang the masks around their necks.

District Women and Child Development officer Rajiv Singh said those found without masks during daily checking in the city were being sent to an open prison as a punishment for breaching the Covid rules.