It is said that it takes a village to raise a child but time has come to change that saying – it should be – it takes a village to raise a healthy child. And to take this message of health and nutrition forward, Sarpanch from across Angul have come together to pledge that no mother or child should be under-nourished in the district.
We come from a small village in the Pallahara block of Angul, and we have seen that very few PRI members take an active interest in the nutrition status of their Panchayat. So when 21 Sarpanchs and PRI members across our district decided to collaborate for nutrition, this was very welcome.
The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) came into existence through the 73rd Amendment and to ensure democracy works at local level. It may not be known to some PRI members but they have an active role to play in monitoring nutrition services at the Anganwadi Centre and to ensure that people access these services. Coming together under the banner of Angul Pusti Adhikar Abhiyan (APAA), all the Sarpanchs and other members of Panchayati Raj Institutions have committed to make poshan or nutrition as their top priority. The APAA is a people-led movement to promote better nutrition in Angul.
The meetings are bringing together a lot of stakeholders to spread awareness about the impact of under-nutrition on growth of a child and a mother’s wellbeing. This includes community influencers like frontline health workers including Anganwadi workers, ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists), ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwiferys) and members of the Janch committee and Matru committee. Janch and Matru committees are community monitoring committees under the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) scheme of the Central Government. Self-help groups (SHGs) which are responsible for providing meals under this scheme, are also attending these meetings.
The Sarpanchs have come to believe that good nutrition plays a huge role for the wellbeing of our future generations too. They want to promote this message that Angul needs to come out of this vicious cycle of an under-nourished mother leading to an under-nourished child. And with community leaders like Sarpanchs taking the lead, all of us need to rally behind them to promote good nutrition.
As a next step, the Sarpanchs need to organize more awareness meetings as follow-ups to the initial meeting. While bringing people together on the same platform is crucial, it is equally important to ensure smooth implementation of the Government schemes so that the whole community benefits. And if a Sarpanch champions the cause of nutrition and ensures that the schemes reach even the last person, then it is a win-win situation for everyone.
(Mohanty andTripathy are members of the Angul Pushti Adhikar Abhiyan - APAA )