PURNIA/BIHAR: On a sultry afternoon, 20-odd women, aged between 16 and 40, have gathered in Kullakhas village of Kasba block in Bihar’s Purnia district, for what can be best described as a rural variant of a kitty party.
A rag doll is brought out and hung on a clothesline and all women are given shreds of ribbons of three different colours.
Preeti Kumari, the supervisor of the self-help group, tells them that the doll is named after Janaki, who was a minor when she got married.
She died after giving birth to an underweight child. She suffered post-delivery haemorrhage as she couldn’t take care of her diet, was heavily anaemic and didn’t seek timely medical help.
All women are asked to tie knots of ribbons on Janaki as everything that happened wrong with her is called out. Then, one by one, they are urged to bring Janaki back to life by undoing the wrongs.
By the time Janaki is resurrected, all the women know the importance of eating a healthy balanced diet regularly, not marrying before the appropriate age and visiting the nearest health centre for regular check-ups.
Till about three years ago, not many in the village knew enough or cared much about the repercussions of poor diet, lack of sanitation and family planning and underage marriages.
“We do activities like this every time we meet to inculcate good and healthy behaviours,” Preeti said.
Swabhiman project, a programme that includes a nutrition micro plan focusing on newlyweds, pregnant women and mothers of infants under 2 and adolescent girls, was launched in some villages in the district in 2016, as joint venture of the Union and state governments, as well as the UNICEF. It was aimed at encouraging positive behaviours around health and nutrition.
The results have been encouraging.
A recently conducted mid-line survey showed a jump of over 20 per cent more women receiving ante-natal care in the project area, iron-folic acid and calcium availability going up by more than 30 per cent and 20 per cent more intake of meat, poultry and fish during pregnancy.
Nearly 100 schools in Purnia, an “aspiration” district, were chosen for Ankuran project, which focused on establishing iron-rich nutrition garden in schools, providing regular mid-day meals, health check-ups, de-worming and weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation, enabling morning assembly on nutrition.