MUMBAI: ‘We need to be ashamed as a nation when 38 per cent of children in India are still undernourished and suffer from mal nutrition. How can we take advantage of the demography if a large number of children are stunted due to malnutrition. Though the results won’t show in our lifetime, we have to start now”, said NitiAayog Vice Chairman and Head of the Nutrition Mission Rajiv Kumar at the pre-launch conference of the POSHAN Abhiyaan Jan Andolan.

The program, the first of its kind is an effort to bring about a convergence between 11 line Ministries to tackle the problem of malnutrition. A well thought out implementation strategy has, for the first time, also taken on board the community radio stations for carrying the message of POSHAN Abhiyaan during the month of September, declared as POSHANMaah.

Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation (SMART) a not for profit organisation committed to strengthening the community radio sector in the country, which has been totally ignored in the last couple of years, with support from UNICEF organised a three day workshop on the POSHAN Abhiyaan Jan Andolan, a programme spearheaded by The Ministry of Women and Child Development. 42 community radio managers participated in the workshop that iterated the eight-core themes: antenatal, optimal breastfeeding, complementary feeding, anaemia, growth monitoring, hygiene and station, food fortification and girls education, diet and marriage at the right age.

This is the first time that community stations have been mobilised for such national mission. Its inclusion in a national mission would help address some of their critical issues that include their lack of viability. The challenge is now to deliver, and the CR stations are confident as engaging with communities to influence behaviour positively is something that they do in their everyday broadcasts.