The women of Sakhi Mandal are playing a vital role in the war against malnutrition by leading the nutrition campaign in villages across Jharkhand. In the last month more than 25,000 awareness programmes have been conducted in the rural areas of the State. As many as 12 lakh women have participated in the awareness programmes organised by around 1.2 lakh Sakhi Mandals in the State.
Members of Sakhi Mandal are constantly making efforts to make each family in the remote areas aware about the importance of nutrition. About 2.30 lakh women are campaigning against malnutrition while more than 60 thousand families have been connected to the nutrition garden.
Making nutrition a priority in the campaign, the members are tackling malnutrition by making children and rural women aware about the importance of nutrition. The members are also identifying malnourished children and connecting them to local Anganwadi centres.
In rural areas members are creating awareness on cleanliness and proper hand washing to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Through special group meetings and discussions, women are also making each other aware about the importance of cleanliness and malnutrition. In the present situation to prevent the spread of Covid-19 masks are also being distributed in various districts.
Subhadra Nayak of Chaibasa who is leading the campaign in the village of Taraisol explains that people in the village have a quest to eradicate malnutrition and women are actively participating in the campaign.
To overcome malnutrition awareness campaigns and rallies are also being conducted in the villages while the members of Sakhi Mandal have also administered the nutrition oath to rural women in every village.
As a part of the campaign, the members have adopted various creative ways like colourful rangolis made from cereals, vegetables and fruits to inform about the nutrients required for health which have become the point of attraction for people. Through these rangolis, Sakhi Mandal members are also giving information about the importance of nutrition for the overall development of pregnant and lactating women as well as adolescent girls. To convey the importance of proper nutrition, the rangolis are being made using seven types of green leafy vegetables, various grains, eggs and fruits.