GAYA: The ongoing anti polio drive has hit a road block on account of continued resistance in slum pockets where the poor residents are skeptical about the oral drops administered for polio eradication. Complaints of resistance have been received from some areas of the Gaya town including Iqbal Nagar and Panchayti Akhara localities. The resistance is more pronounced in areas inhabited by poor Muslims on account of the misgiving that polio drops were actually meant for birth control by reducing the potency and reproductive capacity of the future generations. The Polio drops are administered in the 0-5 age group to ensure total eradication of the dreaded disease. The reported resistance and misgivings have caused concern in the agencies engaged in the polio eradication campaign. Besides the health machinery of the state government, international organisations like UNICEF, WHO and the Rotary Club are associated with the anti polio drive. In order to remove the misgivings of the Muslim women with regard to the effects of polio drops, an interactive session was convened in the Lifeline Nursing Home of the town on Sunday evening to highlight the positive aspects of the anti polio campaign and the vulnerability of the non immunised children. WHO representative Ajay Gupta was also present. UNICEF, on its part has engaged counsellors belonging to the resistant groups in order to convince the skeptics and remove the misgivings. Aziz Fatma, a UNICEF counsellor is working in the minority dominated slums to persuade the parents particularly the mothers to get the anti polio drops administered to their little ones. According to Rotary club assistant governor Mahjabeen Nishat Anjum, a door to door approach is required to popularise mass immunisation against polio. International agencies like the UNICEF and WHO are working hard to ensure complete polio eradication from India at the earliest. According to UNICEF sources, India is among the five countries of the world where total polio eradication is yet to be achieved. The other countries where the polio menace continues are neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and Nigeria. WHO counsellor from Georgia, Neili, also participated in the interactive session and tried to convince the women about the usefulness of the polio drops. Mahjabeen Nishat Anjum said that the help of some religious leaders including heads of important mosques would be taken in the near future to popularise immunisation in the Muslim dominated slums. The religious leaders wielded considerable influence in the ghettos, she said.