'Anganwadi calendar', a communication tool

Bhopal, May 2:

At a first look it may look like a typical monthly Indian calendar available in the nearby market place. But on a second look, it is not!

It is an 'anganwadi calendar' published by the State Women and Child Development Department of the central Indian state, Madhya Pradesh in India. Anganwadi centre is a child care centre in villages of the state which provides services to help improve the nutritional and health status of children below the age of six years and pregnant and lactating mothers. It is set up by the state with the support from Government of India under its Integrated Child Development Scheme. It includes package of services like supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health check-up, referral services, pre-school non-formal education and nutrition & health education for children below the age of six years and pregnant and lactating mothers. The said calendar probably has all the information which one Anganwadi worker needs to provide it to mothers, pregnant women who visit the centre along with their children.

As in all the calendars it has month wise dates in a 'week wise' format duly stapled on to the calendar. In this calendar the month slips could be removed after the month gets over and rest of the portion of the calendar for that month could be used as a poster. It could be stuck on to the wall of an 'anganwadi centre'. It becomes an IEC (information education and communication) tool and helps provide the much needed 'right' information to the families visiting the centre. The information on the calendar is provided both in written and pictorial format, keeping the literacy levels in mind the rural areas of the state.

The calendar has information on the various services available in the anganwadi centre, (very importantly) full child's immunization chart and information about care of pregnant women. It also talks about right age of marriage i.e. 21 years for boys and 18 years for girls and motivates parents to marry their children especially girls at the right age. That's not all it also has key messages on gender equality, importance of exclusive breast feeding till six months and complimentary feeding, which is important in the state which has high rates of infant mortality and low rates of exclusive breastfeeding.

The calendar also relays importance of institutional delivery and has key messages which probably ever family should know and understand. No doubt an effort worth praise, but it may be important to evaluate its effective distribution and use.

By Anil Gulati