Children First : Village Planning In
The Guna Villages Of Madhya PradeshBy Anil Gulati
28 July, 2007
Countercurrents.orgVillages in Guna district in the state of Madhya Pradesh are experiencing a positive change which will go a long way to give district's children a right start and bring improvement in the lives of women of the district.
Communities in Golyaheda village in Kumbhraj Tehsil of Chachoda development block, want to make sure that all the pregnant women in their village give birth to the new life in an institution i.e. health centre or hospital. All households of Tarawata village in the same district have toilets. Women and children issues are a priority for community members of the piproda village, in the Guna development block. These are just examples of the change which is happening for good, and is getting reflected in the results for women and children. Birth registration in Guna district has gone up by 30 per cent and institutional deliveries have increased by over 15 per cent. In one interacts with women across the villages of the district, they seem to have increased awareness how important it is to go for exclusive breast feeding and complementary feeding.
But all this has not happened overnight. It all started in the year 2005 and method adopted was quite simple. It was based on the norms of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) system. With the help of the local NGOs, social maps were prepared to assess the distribution of the available resources in the villages and areas identified where services such as hand pumps, anganwadis or health centres are needed. Household /family surveys are conducted to collect basic information about the village, communities and needs of children primarily in the areas of health, education, nutrition, drinking water and sanitation in addition to information on socio-economic conditions. These issues were then taken up as a basis for preparing village plans by the community groups for presentation and approval in a special Gram Sabha or a Village Meeting.
In addition to this village communities were given regular information about the various services available to them, mainly in health, education, nutrition and sanitation and encouraged to demand timely, effective and uninterrupted provision of these services. The villagers are also sensitized towards the importance and utility of the services like vaccination, birth certificates, institutional delivery, immediate and continuing breast feeding, nutritious food, regular health check-up, cleanliness, sanitation and education. The entire process was facilitated by volunteers of non governmental organization who were supported and trained by UNICEF and in partnership with district administration. It was a children centeric process by the people of the district and a step towards strengthening decentralization process in the district. Since the process revolved around children and women, it has helped to bring their 'agenda to the forefront of planning' by the district. It was not only that the process involved communities but even capacities of delivery system; non governmental organisations were strengthened for them to respond to the needs of communities.
The intensive process which was followed has helped increased engagement between community members, NGOs and the district delivery system and supported in strengthening implementation of the initiatives by the state for women and children. Village micro plans of all the villages in Guna are ready and district response team has worked out an action response plan and they are responding to the needs of communities. Positive results coming in are indicatio that process which has gone in will reap benefits in years to come.
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