NSIDE THIS SSUE - wcdsbp.org · (IAS) Program Officer of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency...
Transcript of NSIDE THIS SSUE - wcdsbp.org · (IAS) Program Officer of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency...
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
News & Events
#PreraksAtWork –
Championing change
#PrerakSpeak – Why I
became a Prerak
Postcards from the
field – Stories of
change
POSHAN Abhiyaan, launched on 8 March
2018, is a watershed moment in India’s fight
against malnutrition. With a targeted approach
to reduce undernutrition among children,
women, and adolescents, the Abhiyaan adopts
a life-cycle approach with greater emphasis on
the first 1000 days (from conception to 2 years
of age of a child) through convergent efforts.
Read more
A joint initiative of the Ministry of Women &
Child Development (WCD) and the Tata
Trusts, the program supplements the
POSHAN Abhiyaan by providing managerial
and administrative support to the district and
state administrations for the effective
implementation of the Abhiyaan.
It also provides young professionals an
opportunity to contribute to nation-building by
catalysing change at the grassroots level.
Presently, there are 352 Preraks supporting the
Abhiyaan across 26 states and 6 UTs. Read
more
SWASTH BHARAT PRERAK PROGRAM UPDATE | DECEMBER 2019 | VOLUME 11
SWASTH BHARAT PRERAK PROGRAM UPDATE
December 2019, Volume 11
NEWS & EVENTS
Ferozepur district of Punjab bagged the SKOCH Silver Awards
It is gratifying when the hard work of the Preraks for supporting the implementation of POSHAN
Abhiyaan gets recognised. The district team of Ferozepur, along with Sunny Kumar, SBP for
Ferozepur, was awarded the SKOCH Silver Award under the Swasth Bharat category, with theme
of ‘Community Engagement’ for effective implementation.
The award was received by Mr Chander Gaind, Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepur and Mr
Rattandeep Sandhu, District Project Officer (DPO) on 29 November 2019 at New Delhi during
the India Economic Forum, the 62nd Summit of Skoch Group.
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#PRERAKSATWORK – CHAMPIONING CHANGE
While the primary mandate of a Prerak is to support the implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan,
driven by their passion, they also work hard along with the district teams to improve the core
nutrition services. “For me the cause that required concerted action was the improvement of
facility-based care of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM),” shares Ankit.
While Khagaria has a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) for facility-based care of SAM
children, it was observed that the bed occupancy rate was only 50%. Ankit, with the guidance of
the District Magistrate (DM) and in collaboration with the ICDS office and the Health
department, helped develop a plan to increase community-based referral of SAM children.
Under this plan, each Lady Supervisor is responsible for identification, referral, and treatment of at
least two SAM children in their sector every month. The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram
(RBSK) team was also leveraged for admission of SAM children at NRCs. “As a result of this
initiative, Khagaria’s NRC now has the distinction of a near 100% bed occupancy rate for the past
six months,” says Ankit.
Ankit Kumar Wats, Khagaria, Bihar
IMPROVING SAM REFERRALS INCREASING NRC BED OCCUPANCY
It was noted that the growth monitoring data from anganwadi centres (AWCs) in tribal areas was
poor. In addition, there was discrepancy in data that was recorded vis-à-vis the actual weight of
children. The cause for this was faulty weighing scales. With the help of block level functionaries,
Rana mapped out all AWCs that had faulty weighing scales and submitted a report to Shri Balaji
(IAS) Program Officer of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), who sanctioned
funds for replacing the weighing scales for 2136 AWCs with digital scales of better quality. 1200
weighing scales have already been replaced; the procurement of the remaining scales is in process.
Additionally, Rana supported the ITDA in launching ‘Tribal Mother Care’ and ‘Tribal Kids
Care”’ initiatives, which have direct patronage of the Chief Minister. Both the schemes are
focused towards incentivising frontline functionaries – the AAAs. The Tribal Mother Care is
aimed at ensuring that mothers are enrolled to receive the health and nutrition services within the
first trimester and the AAAs are given an incentive of Rs 350 upon registration, and first ANC
within the first trimester. Similarly, the Tribal Kids Care initiative incentivizes the AWW with Rs
500 for every underweight or SAM children who has been restored to the healthy growth
trajectory (from the red zone to the green zone).
Rana Reddy, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
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STRENGTHENING SERVICES ACROSS TRIBAL BLOCKS
Rana, who has a degree in Computer Science from BITS, chose to be a
Prerak to live his passion of contributing meaningfully to the community.
Working in Vishakhapatnam, the district that has the highest proportion of
tribal population in Andhra Pradesh (55%), Rana identified the urgent
need for focused support and intervention in the tribal blocks.
Ankit has been a Swasth Bharat Prerak in Khagaria district of Bihar for almost
year and a half. Surrounded by seven rivers, Khagaria is prone to periodic
flooding. This significantly affects access and reach of key government
schemes around health and nutrition such as the ICDS.
SWASTH BHARAT PRERAK PROGRAM UPDATE | DECEMBER 2019 | VOLUME 11
#PRERAKSPEAK – WHY I BECAME A PRERAK
With an educational background in social work and
experience of other fellowship programs in health and
education sector, Har Gobinda joined the Swasth Bharat
Prerak program as a State Lead for Assam with an
aspiration to make a difference at the systems’ level. He
is also the regional coordinator for all states of North-
East India.
Har Gobinda is an integral part of the State Resource
Group (SRG). As a training facilitator for SRG, he
supports the state in planning and implementing training
at the block, district and state levels. Components like
the ILA were going slow in Assam. Har Gobinda
stepped in to fill the gap of shortage of human
resources. He travelled to geographically overburdened
districts like Dima Hasao to conduct ILA training.
Working closely with the local authorities, he has also
pushed for filling up vacant positions. In addition, he
coordinated the orientation of 540 officials who joined
health and ICDS departments.
A major contribution of Har Gobinda has been
formulating the IEC guidelines and campaign for the
state. Given his knowledge and familiarity with the
terrain and rich culture of the state, he has also been
entrusted with designing the state-level Jan Andolan
calendar. He worked closely with the NHM team and
State Mission Director in designing these plans. The
state has also been able to leverage Har Gobinda’ s
strengths and entrusted him with leading the
documentation of best initiatives in the SBCC
implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan in Assam.
“This experience of
being a part of Swasth
Bharat Prerak
Program has helped
me improve my
leadership quality.
Additionally, leading
and working with a
team of young
professionals has
given me a rich
experience and
transformed my
problem solving and
decision-making
skills,” says Har
Gobinda.
HAR GOBINDA BORO
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State Lead Assam and Regional Coordinator, North-East India
SWASTH BHARAT PRERAK PROGRAM UPDATE | DECEMBER 2019 | VOLUME 11
POSTCARDS FROM THE FIELD – STORIES OF CHANGE
Sustant Singh, Arwal Bihar
STRENGTHENING CONVERGENCE AT PANCHAYAT LEVEL
Under the direct
supervision of the
District Magistrate,
Sushant has sensitized
191 households in
Panchaya village to
construct toilets.
So far, 12 households
have finished
constructing toilets.
Pahleja panchayat located in Arwal district of Bihar
has appointed SBP Sushant Singh as the Nodal
Officer, entrusting him with the responsibility of
making the panchayat and open defecation free
(ODF). Currently, he is also the focal person for
convergence for panchayat to strengthen the faith of
people in the district administration.
With his meticulous planning skill and dedication
during the ‘Jal Jeevan Hariyali’ initiative, Sushant won
the hearts of the entire district team. His efforts were
soon recognized by the DM, who gave him additional
responsibilities and made him the Nodal Officer to
oversee Vikas Mela and other hygiene, sanitation
related programs. Vikas Mela is held at panchayat’s
across Bihar to sensitize people about government’s
programs.
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Sushant effectively leveraged the platform of Vikas Mela to create awareness about POSHAN
Abhiyaan. He discussed this idea with the DM and the DPO, and with their approval he mobilised
the anganwadi workers and lady supervisors to sensitize people. Sushant has also enhanced his
interpersonal communication tremendously. In sensitising the people in the capacity of Nodal
Officer, he has gained their confidence. “I have kept myself abreast of the different government
schemes on health and nutrition and other converging sectors to create awareness among people
on the services they are entitled to. I also continue to be a facilitator between the community and
the administration for resolving people’s problems to their satisfaction,” shares Sushant.
Manoj Sonkar, Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
JASHN – E - SUPOSHAN
“My daughter is one
year old and through
this nukkad-natak I
have learnt specific
information on
childcare and more
importantly, why
nutritional well-being
matters” – a visitor at
the mela.
Dadri Mela is an annual, unique, month long
festival. Organised in Ballia town of Uttar Pradesh
one of a major cattle fair in the country. The mela
begins with much fanfare on the full-moon night of
kartik poornima. Large crowds gather near the
banks of river Ganges for the ceremonial dip in
the holy river. Devotees pay their respects to
Dadar Muni, who was a disciple of Maharishi
Bhrigu. Local religious festivals provide an
opportune platform to sensitise a large number of
people on health and nutrition issues.
Manoj Sonkar, our district lead in Ballia, drafted a
SBCC plan ‘Jashan-e-Suposhan’. With the support
of Shri Hari Prasad Shahi, District Magistrate;
Badi Nath Singh, Chief Development Officer and
Annapurna Garg, DPO, he was able to mobilise
other district leads in Uttar Pradesh along with the
anganwadi workers to perform 41 nukkad-nataks
in 15 hours during the Dadri Mela.
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The other district leads were: Vinay Kumar, Kaushambhi; Jitendra Gupta, Gazipur; Imran
Qureshi, Mainpuri; Naveen Pandey, Amethi; Vibhuti Kumar, Deoria; Vaishali Pandey, Jaunpur;
Shivanand Shukla, Sultanpur; and Aniket, Balrampur. The purpose was not only to entertain the
masses but also to sensitise them.
The Preraks interacted and actively engaged with the audience of over 5000 plus on nutrition
related issues. More such local festivals will be identified in the coming months where the
medium of nukkad-nataks will be used to reach the audience with messages on health and
nutrition.
Saurav Aman, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh
LEVERAGING CSR FUNDS TO COMBAT ANAEMIA AMONG ADOLESCENTS
Saurav Aman, Swasth Bharat Prerak at
Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh, understands
the need for an effective strategy to combat
anaemia. He proposed an initiative with the
support of district officials to implement the
Vodafone-Idea Limited CSR initiative. This
initiative includes the anaemia screening of
75,000 – 80,000 students from class 6-11.
This initiative provides the technology (devices),
consumables for haemoglobin testing and
volunteers to run the devices. Saurav supported
the officials with execution plan, stakeholder
meetings and block-wise school data for the
district. He also shared the details of the CSR
initiative proposal with the officials of Women &
Child, Health and Education Departments.
The adolescents who were severely anaemic were
provided point-of-care treatment after a referral
from RSBK teams. Those with mild and
moderate anaemia were given adequate
supplements by schoolteachers.
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Between 6
December 2019 and
15 January 2020,
over 22,000
adolescent boys and
girls were tested and
counselled to
increase intake of
iron-rich food
through diet
diversity, quantity
and frequency with
focus on using locally
available resources.
Kshitij Malani, Nandurbar, Maharashtra
DATA VALIDATION METHODOLOGY FOR IDENTIFICATION OF UNDERNUTRITION
Prerak Kshitij Malani working in Nandurbar
district identified gaps in the number of SAM
children reported in the district ICDS CAS and
the ICDS district monthly progress report
(MPR). He decided to conduct a study with the
support of government officials at Sector
Rakaswada 2, Block Nandurbar to understand
this gap. He shortlisted 20 AWCs for the study
and used ICDS CAS as well as MPR data for the
sector to understand the reasons.
It was identified that AWWs needed greater
support in using the newer growth monitoring
devices such as the stadiometer and
infantometer.
Kshitij presented the study report to government
officials of Nandurbar, which was much
appreciated. CEO Zila Parishad urged all
supervisors to replicate this study in their sectors
and conduct child-wise validation of SAM
children.
The study was instrumental for further training
and handholding for AWWs in the use of new
growth monitoring devices to ensure data validity
in identification of undernutrition.
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The number of
anganwadi visits
conducted by Lady
Supervisors increased
substantially in the
month of November and
December 2019. As a
corrective measure, all
Lady Supervisors were
asked to revisit ILA
Module 8 with practical
demonstrations.
Anganwadi workers were
instructed to complete
growth monitoring of all
children before 10th of
every month.