Selima Bibi had her first child when she was 16-years-old, and now 4 years later she is about to deliver her second child. Child marriage is widely practiced in Raghunathpur Village in Diamond Harbour (II) block of South 24 Parganas, where Selima also resides, but this has severe health implications on both the mother and the child.
“The last time I went for a check-up, the doctor at the primary health center told me I have low blood pressure and have the risk of developing anemia. The nearest hospital is at a distance of 17 kms and I can’t go for check-ups regularly. My oldest was born at home because I could not reach the hospital on time. This time I am a little worried and hope I am able to have a delivery at the hospital, with proper care,” says Selima Bibi.
Selima is one of many women registered for Antenatal Care (ANC) under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme of the government. The scheme provides iron supplements as well as a regular supply of nutritional food-items from local Anganwadi Center. However, we found that due to pandemic, ICDS systems are not functioning optimally in the Diamond Harbour (II) block. Expectant mothers are barely receiving any nutritional support from the Anganwadi centers.
“Lower nutritional diet, access to regular healthcare, food and income insecurity, are making the women and children vulnerable to multiple post natal illness. Most of these women have to carry on their day to day household chores, despite being anemic & under-weight, and it is becoming a crisis.” says Sajal Kayal, Chief Functionary, Kankura Masat Social Welfare Society(KMSWS).
One in five pregnant women registered under the ICDS system as ANC suffer from anemia in Diamond Harbour (II) block of South 24 Parganas. To combat this crisis we with our partner KMSWS aim to provide nutritional support every month to 120 pregnant and postnatal mothers and their children in the form of 500 grams of malt-based food and daily iron supplements each day to the pregnant and postpartum women.
In the 8 villages of Diamond Harbour (II) block under the project area, child marriage is extremely prevalent. The identified beneficiaries under the project are in the age group of 15 to 30 and almost all of them had child marriage. Consecutive pregnancies at an early age add up to health vulnerabilities for mothers and in turn their children. All the beneficiaries identified under the project belong to single income households and the sole earners are employed as daily wage labourers.
Income insecurity and the resulting food insecurity coupled with women having multiple children at an early age leads to a severe maternal and child mortality. Coupled with reduced access to health care in the Diamond Harbour (II) block, on an average 8% of all deliveries are home-births unattended by trained professionals.
The Anganwadi system meant to mitigate the effects neonatal and antenatal health implication have been non-functional for the last year under covid-19 lock down. Currently, the mothers registered under Postnatal Care and Antenatal care list are receiving 50 gms of rice and 40 gms of cereals in a month and one egg once a week, which is not enough to meet the nutritional needs of themselves and the newborns, or palliate the risk of anemia.
We would provide 120 pregnant women and new mothers from the most vulnerable background with 500 gms malt-based supplementary food items in order to increase their nutritional levels. The beneficiaries will also be provided with iron supplements every day to mitigate the threat of anemia.
KMSWS will form a committee with local leaders, representatives of the organization to monitor the quality and adequacy of the provided food item and to ensure their consumption by the target population. A project coordinator will be assigned to ensure smooth day to day delivery of the food items and supplements to the target population. One Woman Community leader from each of the villages will be appointed as nodal person for monitoring the effectiveness of the project.
Your contribution of Rs. 4350/- will ensure better health and nutrition for one underprivileged woman and her infant
| Sr No. | PARTICULARS | Unit Cost (in INR) | Frequency (Months) | Number of Units | Total Cost (in INR) |
| 1 | Nutritional Supplements for mother and infants (malt based food) | 217.5 | 12 | 120 | 3,13,200 |
| 2 | Medicines (Folvit -5; iron supplements) | 45 | 12 | 120 | 6,4800 |
| 3 | Project co-ordinator Remuneration | 5,000 | 12 | 1 | 60,000 |
| 4 | Honorarium for women community leaders (at village level) | 4,000 | 12 | 1 | 48,000 |
| 5 | Operations and Logistics Cost | 3,000 | 12 | 1 | 36,000 |
| 6 | Total Expenses | 5,22,000 | |||
| Cost per beneficiary | 4,350 |
Indiadonates is a tax exempt entity, and all donations made through Indiadonates will be tax-exempt under Section 80G of Income Tax Act.
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Kankura Masat Social Welfare Society
Kankura Masat Social Welfare Society (KMSWS) is a small non-governmental, not-for-profit registered voluntary organization established in the year 1999. The aim of the society is for the development and uplift of the poor of the poorest community members living in rural areas of Kankura Masat. From the last 19 yrs they have been working on child education, youth development , sustainable agri...read more
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