Swasth Bharat Prerak ProgramSupporting implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan

• The Swasth Bharat Prerak (SBP) program is a

fellowship, designed to provide an opportunity for

India’s young professionals to contribute to nation

building by supporting the district and state

administrations towards effective implementation of

the POSHAN Abhiyaan.

• It is a joint initiative of the TATA Trusts – and the

Ministry Ministry of Women and Child Development

(MoWCD).

• The objective of the Swasth Bharat Preraks

program is to provide support to the District

Magistrate and ICDS office by deploying a ‘district

lead and state lead’ at district and state-level

respectively who act as catalysts for quick and

efficient implementation of the Abhiyaan’s

components

• The Tata Trusts-TINI have been supporting the

implementation since April 2018

Who are we?

Our core team

Dr Rajan Sankar

Program Director

Preeti Sharma

ManagerDr Archana Kharyal

Program Officer

Prapti Adhikari

Program Officer

Swarnakshi Luhach

Program Officer

Aishwarya Padmanaban

Program Assistant

Kavita Gulati

HR Coordinator

How we recruit the SBPs?

Online Portals

• Applications are shortlisted based

on age and educational institution

• Telephonic shortlisting is carried

out

• Successful telephonic interview is

followed by in-person/ skype final

interview

Campus interviews

• Selected candidates are

shortlisted to participate in the

recruitment drive

• Group discussion conducted on

relevant topics

• Shortlisted candidates undergo

one-on-one interview

303

SBPs

190

SBPs

50

SBPs

Batch (1-6)

April – October 2018

Batch (7-9)

January – July 2018

Batch 10

January 2020

210 Alumni

Program structure

State Leads

• Work in close coordination with the State Project Management Units (SPMU)

for POSHAN Abhiyaan and provide techno - managerial support to state

officials

• Support the district leads and ensure periodic reporting of the functions carried

out by them

Core Team

• Work in close coordination with the Central Project Management Unit (CPMU)

for the implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan

• Provide techno – managerial support to the state and district leads in

supporting the PMUs and district administration as well as the ICDS

District Leads / Prerak

• Work with the district administration and play an active role in implementing the

components of POSHAN Abhiyaan– Convergence, ICDS – CAS, ILA, Jan

Andolan and Innovation

• Ensure documentation and timely reporting as per requirement of the program

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Our strength and coverage

333 SBPs

Including district leads across

34 states and UTs

40% women SBPs

Background:

40% Engineers

30% Management Studies

30% Social sciences and

languages

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Program Highlights2018 - 2020

ICDS - CAS

100% SBP presence across

• Top 5 best performing aspirational districts in Health

and Nutrition

• SBPs supporting 90% of the top 20 aspirational

districts (June 2019 ranking) in performance

improvement

Technology driven service delivery for Anganwadis

through CAS

• Supporting the procurement of smartphones for CAS

across eight states

• Configuration support across 90 districts in eight

states

• Using CAS for periodic analysis and strengthening

service delivery across 130 districts

• Training of anganwadi workers in using smart

phones across eight states

Driving improvement in nutrition indicators across Aspirational and Non – Aspirational districts

Convergence

260 districts submitted Convergence Action Plans

• SBPs have been instrumental in coordinating with

~5-7 line departments in drafting of district

convergence action plans for commitment to work

towards improving nutrition indicators at the district

level

80% of top 20 districts supported by SBPs

• SBPs have been instrumental in driving community

engagement across the year and during special

milestones such as National Nutrition Month (Sept

2018 & 19)

• SBPs use innovative strategies to engage audiences.

Eg: Over 100 street plays during Kumbh mela, use of

religious platforms for spreading message on

nutrition, etc.

Driving Convergent action across districts

Making nutrition a people’s agenda through community engagement

Driving innovations proposals for fund mobilization

Leveraging CSR and other external funds for improving

ICDS services

• SBPs have been instrumental in submitting 140

proposals across 24 states

• 48 proposals have been approved by states

• Some key areas of innovations suggested include:

o Test, treat, and talk anemia camps across govt

schools

o Breastfeeding corners in govt hospitals

o Nutrigardens at Anganwadis

• SBPs have been instrumental in supporting their

districts to leverage CSR funding for their districts in

improving nutrition services

• Till date, they have supported in leveraging CSR &

govt funds across 13 districts in 9 states for:

oAnganwadi infrastructure improvement

(refurbishment of buildings, LPG connections, etc)

oImprovement of services (growth monitoring of

children, provision of supplementary nutrition, etc)

~12

Crores

~37

Crores

Innovation Component

Program publications and reports

Contribution of SBPs

to the National

Nutrition Month (Sept

2018)

Report on the SBP program

on the fight against

malnutrition

Case studies of SBPs

and their work

Contribution of SBPs to the

National Nutrition Month

(Sept 2019)

Press Ctrl and click on image to view

report

Digital presence to showcase the work of SBPs

• An active website of SBPs – www.wcdsbp.org has been put in place to showcase the work of SBPs

• SBP program has an active social media presence across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for engaging

with the SBPs and to showcase the wide array of work carried out by them

Program Update

Field diaries2018 - 2020

Capacity Building

Verification of growth monitoring registers

Conduct verification exercise of Baal Tula reports (or growth monitoring registers) of

select anganwadi centres. The results revealed that in the sample 10 anganwadis, the

proportion of underweight children was approximately 50%. It was substantially higher

than the figure of 15.24%, as reflected in the MPR in one of the districts.

Trainings for growth monitoring

Conduct training workshops on different themes such as growth monitoring, Infant and

Young Child Feeding Practices (IYCF), Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) for low-birth-

weight babies, identification of severe acute malnutrition in children and WASH. Pre and

post-tests are also conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the training.

Support to anganwadi centers in CBEs and VHSND

Support and monitor the status and quality of Village Health and Sanitation Day

(WHSND) in districts. Assist the anganwadi workers and helpers in maintaining

checklists, support in quality assurance and ensure VHSND are held as per the calendar.

Convergence

Bringing communities and administration together

SBP (Seikhpura, Bihar) envisioned an effective convergence with the Education

Department. Poshan Kaksha -awareness on nutrition and hygiene for school and college

students, and Poshan Charcha- lady supervisors and ICDS officials create awareness

about the Abhiyaan to the education department officials such as principals, teachers,

cooks, etc.

Converging for learning

‘Navva Besta Naar’ or the Joint Health, Nutrition and Sanitation Program (JHNSP)--

provided crucial implementation support to the JHNSP. SBP assisted in the orientation

and training of master trainers, and sector and block level functionaries. He also

provided inputs on building an effective feedback system from the district to the block

and village level.

Getting anganwadis water supplies

205 anganwadi centres out of 1507 active ones in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan will be

getting water pipelines from the Public Health Engineering department in the coming

months. SBP contributed raising pertinent point in the convergence meeting, conducting

feasibility study and exploring avenues of convergence with PHED to provide water

connection to anganwadis.

ICDS – CAS

ICDS – CAS for growth monitoring efficiency

SBP in Rajasthan leveraged the ICDS – CAS data to improve growth monitoring efficiency

across all anganwadi centers. A district’s weight monitoring has reached an impressive

99.4% of all anganwadi centers. This focused innovation also saw an encouraging

increase in vaccinations from 77 % in 2017 to 86% in 2019.

Strengthening ICDS – CAS in urban Maharashtra

State Lead for Maharashtra played a significant role in co-locating anganwadi centers

within the municipal schools of Mumbai, in order to support the urban ICDS.

“I am happy to share that BMC and ICDS are now working towards shifting 56 AWCs in

municipal schools,” says Dipesh.

Coding of anganwadi centres with unique codes

SBP in Uttar Pradesh noticed that errors in the codes allocated to the anganwadi workers

were causing data discrepancy and this was immediately flagged it to the district

administration. This swift reporting helped ease the preliminary bottleneck and enabled

smooth implementation of CAS.

Jan Aandolan activities

Nukkad Natak at KumbhUsing Kumbh Mela to spread awareness, this innovative effort sensitised a multitude of

people to nutrition and health. A record-breaking hundred nukkad-nataks of 10 minutes

each were performed in a 24-hour period by the Preraks of UP on 18 February 2019.

This mass awareness drive mobilised an estimated 30,000 people. In parallel,

approximately 13,000 people participated in a signature campaign committing

themselves to adopt healthy nutrition-focused behaviour.

SHGs for nutritionSBPs recognise the value of locally grown produce and available resources- amla

candies and moringa jelly or nutritious recipes in the form of laddoos. In order to

facilitate wide-scale distribution, SHGs have also been roped in. In Uttarakhand, the

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Mr Trivendra Singh Rawat, recently launched Jangoora

laddoos.

Suposhan LeelaSBPs in UP utilised the festival of dusshera to disseminate messages about good

nutrition, but with a twist. Using humour and designing characters such as Suposhit

Ram, Iron Laxman and Bharat Vitamin C, who together fight against Kuposhan ka Ravan

and Anaemia Surpanakha, SBPs successfully narrated the impact of anaemia and effect

of iron, the need to consume iron with vitamin c, and the many health schemes that

could help build a kuposhan-mukt rajya.

System strengthening

Developing model anganwadisSBP transformed a vacant anganwadi centre that was being used as dumping ground for

household garbage. Through persistent efforts, the team won over the villagers who were

resistant to this change. The once defunct anganwadi is now a welcoming abode for

mothers and children. It is a learning hub that boasts of a small library and playground. In

addition, there is a kitchen garden and compost pit.

Reimagining anganwadis in Punjab, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura

SBPs have leveraged CSR funds to develop model anganwadi centres, building of toilets,

providing clean fuel, ISO certifications, setting up vegetable donation boxes, and installation

of water filters.

Giving communities the 'Information at hand': Poshan Helpline, Assam

In order to make the information on health and nutrition accessible to the communities, the

State Program Management Unit (SPMU) Assam established a hotline service - the

Poshan Helpline. The state lead of SBP, Har Gobinda and SBP Ronica Devarshi were a

part of the steering team who contributed significantly to the concept and setting up of it.

Some testimonials..

“I would like to mention the role of the Swasth Bharat Preraks,who under the guidance of my team and their State Lead have

played an eminent role in supporting the state and districts in

implementation of the program. They have been instrumental in

key areas including interdepartmental coordination, definingSMART objectives at system level, steamlining of operational

processes and providing analytical support.”

– Dr. M. Geetha, IAS, Secretary, Department of Women and

Child Development, Chhattisgarh

“These Preraks or catalysts of change have made a valuablecontribution towards effective implementation of POSHAN

Abhiyaan in their respective districts. They have helped provide an

unbiased perspective of developments at grassroots, which has

helped inform decision making at various levels. We are gratefulfor their support and welcome the opportunity to partner with Tata

Trusts on future engagements too.”

– Mr. JN Kansotiya IAS, Former Principal Secretary,

Department of Women and Child Development,

Madhya Pradesh

” The Swasth Bharat Prerak Program has provided valuablehuman resources support to the state. The Preraks have actively

engaged with the state machinery for the implementation of

POSHAN Abhiyaan. They bring diverse perspectives and have

successfully worked with various stakeholders on the field. Theircontribution to the Abhiyaan is appreciated.“

- Ms. Vinita Vaid Singal IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, Maharashtra

“The Swasth Bharat Prerak program has played a crucial role ineffective implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan. The Preraks are

an integral part of the district administration have made significant

contribution towards achieving targets under POSHAN Abhiyaan.

The youthfulness of ideas and freshness of perspective whichPreraks bring are deeply appreciated by us and give us a clear

picture of the situation on the ground. We are grateful for the

presence of this extremely talented cadre of young professionals

and wish them the very best for future endeavours.”

– Mr. H. Arun Kumar IAS, Special Commissioner, Department

of Women and Child Development, Andhra Pradesh

“Having a Prerak is always very helpful for efficient functioning.POSHAN Abhiyaan is very promising in the transformation of lives

of women and children. The nutritional support through POSHAN

Abhiyaan will help minimise malnutrition in the district and

contribute significantly in improving the health of children and futuregenerations”

– Ronald Rose IAS, District Collector, Mahabubnagar, Telangana

“The Swasth Bharat Preraks are integral in supporting the Statein effective roll out of POSHAN Abhiyaan components. We are

confident that the young men and women will wholeheartedly

work towards this nation-building initiative and will contribute

towards strengthening nutrition linked services in Uttar Pradesh.”

– Anil Kumar Mishra IAS, Director, State Nutrition Mission,

Uttar Pradesh

Our gratifying moments…

Thank you!