Pada Pusti a novel initiative to save poor kids from malnutrition

BHUBANESWAR: Hundreds of poor children and pregnant mothers, who were deprived of Odisha government’s nutrition drive through Anganwadi centres as their habitations remained inaccessible because of geographical constraints, have found a new hope of keeping good health as some organisations have joined hands to reach out to them through their own initiative called Pada Pusti or nutrition programme for hamlets.

This programme, apart from addressing the nutrition requirement of children, has also contributed to bring them into the fold of elementary education.

The interesting fact is that women have been playing a major role in successful implementation of nutrition drive.

The implementing agency got associated with the drive by holding meetings in their respective padas or hamlets, where they explained the need and benefit of pusti or nutrition in building the health of their children.

Debaki Hial, an Anganwadi worker who was instrumental in forming women’s groups in several hamlets in Raghubari gram panchayat under Muniguda block in Rayagada district, said that females, most of whom are illiterate, were explained in their own language about the nutritional value of the locally available crops and how to make different food items with those grains for their children.

“We have trained the local women in making ladoos with different highly nutritious grains and corns and serve them to their children. No longer do they wait for us to cook food and serve them to the infants and children,” said Ms Hial.

In fact, the Pada Pusti programme was launched in 15 villages under the Telanga-padar gram panchayat in 2018 by Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives and Sikshasandhan — two leading development organisations with active support from the government of Odisha under its Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Now the programme is being implemented in at least 100 villages.

“The main objective of the programme is to bring improvement in the health condition of pregnant women, new mothers, infants in the age group between 7 months and 3 years, and adolescent boys and girls.

Under the programme, children are served cooked food at centres close to their houses,” said Anil, the member secretary of Sikshasandhan.

According to the government rules, an Anganwadi centre can be opened in a village which has a minimum population of 150. Villages having population of less than 150 are tagged to the nearby Anganwadi centre.

A pada is not a full-fledged village. It is a small unit of a few residents and is called a hamlet.

In Odisha, hamlets can be seen in large numbers in Rayagada, Malkangiri, and Nabarangpur.

According to Mr Pradhan, many infants and children suffer from malnutrition and related diseases due to lack of nutritious food. Since most of the hamlets are located in untrodden and inaccessible hilly terrains and forests, the government delivery system fails to reach them.

“Our interventions have borne fruit. There has been significant improvement in the health of infants and children as well as their mothers. Besides, infant mortality and maternal mortality has almost disappeared in the programme implemented hamlets,” said Mr Pradhan.

Apart from nutritional requirements that are being met with, the children at Pada Pusti centres are taught by trained volunteers. Like in government-run Anganwadi centres, the children are given free clothes and books here.