Shimla: Village level Coordination Committees would be associated to create awareness among women and children through Community Communication. This was disclosed by Mrs. Anuradha Thakur, Director, Social Welfare and Empowerment while presiding over the workshop organized by Social Welfare and Empowerment Department here today to finalise the informative material developed by the Department.
She said that 7,354 Village level Coordination Committees had been constituted in the State and regular meetings of these committees were being held on 3rd of every month. She said that the department was planning to publish about 11 booklets on various issues pertaining to women and children. She said that these include ICDS objectives, Milestones of Child Development, Nutrition and Malnutrition, Safe Motherhood, Water Usage and Sanitation, Adolescence, Substance Use and Girl Child. She said that this informative and communicative literature would go a long way in educating the masses, especially women and children for building the healthy society.
Mrs. Thakur also detailed the Acts implemented in the State for the benefit of women, children and aged people. She said that the Department would also educate the masses about these Acts so that affected persons can take benefit of it.
Representatives of Health, Language, Art and Culture and Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti participated in the workshop.
The above report is not complete, there were other Voluntary agencies apart from Gyan Vigyan Samiti and that is correction you should be doing.
Secondly as I have written earlier, the HP is facing Generation-II issues and that is why the informative material is not as much required as material which helps people – especially women to act upon the info that they already possess. The bureacucracy is not yet ready for this and that is the tragedy. Our Representative was participant of the meeting and found the material so medicore that it might have prepared for the interior villages of Orissa or 36Garh.
The Department is consistently refusing to get the ICDS workers trained in gender related issues – eventhough Voluntary Agencies are ready to pay towards its expenses – means the Department doesn’t need to spend a penny and it requires only the ICDS worker to allow to participate in the training – it is true that the field level staff of ICDS is demanding training but higherup in Shimla do not accept this. The failure of Women & Child Development department is written in bold letters in NFHS 2005 as well as in the Sex ratio at Birth brought out by the Department of Health & Family welfare, Government of HP. Both show dismissal performance of the Department – the total immunization coverage has gone down, malnutrition amongst the young children has gone up and anaemic condition of pregnnt women is not improving, sex ratio at birth is continously declining whilst IMR has increased eventhough fractionally.
Unless the Department opens its doors for voluntary agencies seek their participation, it has no future.
Subhash Mendhapurkar
Dear Mr. Subhash,
Thank you for bringing the real truth behind so many announcements government makes everyday.
Our idea to bring government news is to engage public and government machinery in direct dialogue. However we are doing this work everyday without any gains and our esteemed readers, including you, are doing their part but it seems government machinery is adverse to have a dialogue.
All across the western world, governments are using latest technologies so as to improve functioning and better communication with public but it seems HP govt. is just there to make announcements.
But I can’t agree with you on the role of voluntary agencies in Himachal. One can not deny with the role of Government of HP (any political party). If we compare with the rest of many states, HP Government is doing good but in fact not enough. I doubt about the role of volunteer agencies in HP & the HP Societies Registration bill 2006 has made it clear. How can any one talk about changing things?
In last few months voluntary agencies have failed in many ways including protecting own rights. I realized first we/volunteer agencies need to teach/learn our selves to work more effectively & honestly.
Thank you bringing the truth and I would encourage you to be part of this campaign and work we are doing here. We all need to work together so as to wake up our sleeping government.
Thank you.