OREANDA-NEWS. September 27, 2012. Taking a step forward in creating awareness on women and child health, the ladies club Diya of Tata Power's Jojobera thermal power plant conducted an awareness programme to celebrate National Nutrition Week. Held on September 8 in Sarjamda village of Jamshedpur, the programme was attended by 150 women and girls along with the leaders and elders of the village. The group was headed by Jhurmuni Kisku, mukhiya, north block; Kumlun Herenj, mukhiya, south block; and Vijay Tirkey, deputy mukhiya, south block. All the members of Diya, headed by their president Jayashree Choudhury, were present at the event. Dr Khuntia, medical consultant, Jojobera plant, addressed the crowd.

The community members were made aware of the various ways of taking care of expectant mothers and newborn babies; proper nutrition requirements; deficiencies and diseases like polio, DPT, etc and ways of curbing them; and various government schemes for helping the needy. Dr Khuntia also emphasised on regular weight measurement for growing children and the use of government medical centres and anganwadi centres for quick treatment of common ailments.

The programme was well received by the community, which was evident from the multiple questions raised by the enthusiastic mothers and womenfolk. The session was interactive and the day ended well with Diya members promising to return with more such awareness programmes.

DS Kudalkar, head, Jojobera station, said, "It is a good beginning for Diya, a group of our lady employees at Jojobera, who have joined hands to bring qualitative change in the lives of the needy. I hope that these activities help in bringing a change in the thought process of the community members."

Maternal and child health is a leading issue in the country. With increasing infant mortality rate, rising malnutrition in children and degrading maternal health, it has become inevitable to sensitise the public at large on this burning issue.