To reduce the rate of malnutrition in the district by the National Health and Family Welfare Department, under the guidance of Collector Mr. Padum Singh Elma, Pott Laika campaign is being run. For the successful implementation of this campaign, Sub-Divisional Officer (Ra.) Suruchi Singh reached the Anganwadi center of village Jewri today and informed the Shishuvati and pregnant mothers of the village about the Potth Laika campaign and the facilities and nutritious food being provided in the Anganwadi center.Poth Laika Campaign Under this, the government is focusing on providing nutritious food to the children of Anganwadi. While the mid-day meal scheme takes care of school-going children, ready-to-eat packets and hot meals are served to mothers and children in anganwadis under Poshan Abhiyaan. Eggs and bananas are also being distributed under the Chief Minister’s Nutrition Scheme. These schemes along with the Public Distribution System have eliminated the problem of availability of food. These are big steps towards eradicating malnutrition. However, a gap still exists in that knowledge about when and what to eat is not readily available to all families. Thus there is a need for nutrition counseling and behavior change programmes. Due to the above reason, Bemetara district has started Potth Lika campaign. The pilot project will cover 40 villages of Bemetara section. The main objective is to eliminate malnutrition (SAM) in the district to zero number of children. The activities to be carried out under this mission are as follows- On every Friday, the workers of Women and Child Development Department, Health Department and Bihaan will go to every house in 40 villages and explain to the parents of children what to eat and when to eat. Along with this, they will also be told about tricolor food, how to always wash hands before eating food, how to use ready-to-eat and how to feed your children at least 3 times a day. They will also encourage them to say no to junk food and explain the importance of proteins (eggs, milk, meat, fish, pulses, soybeans, etc.). They will also remind the parents to always send their children to Anganwadis and give Iron Folic Acid tablets to their children on time. This will be for all the houses in the village but special attention will be given to the houses of malnourished children. We should pay attention to the time when the child starts eating solid food because at that time the chances of malnutrition are high so mothers should be made aware about it. Malnutrition Audit and Micro Nutrition Scheme- Objectives to discuss Malnutrition Each locality of 40 villages will be covered. Its responsibility will be of Panchayat Secretary and Sarpanch. Anganwadi Didi and Mitanin Didi will help in this process. Here the Gram Sabha members will discuss among themselves and the Panchayat Secretary will write the answers to the questions on the chart paper. Sarpanch, secretary, active women of Bihan, Anganwadi workers and supervisors, Mitanin supervisors, Rajeev Yuva Mitan president of 40 pilot villages will be trained by UNICEF on how to provide nutrition counseling to villagers. Bemetara district in relation to the State Rural Livelihoods Mission Nutrition will be discussed in every village organization meeting. Here it will be the responsibility of the head of the organization to tell the members the importance of sending their children to Anganwadi centers and tell them the importance of tricolor food, that is, the color of the tricolor in the plate – white is for rice, milk and eggs, green is for green vegetables. and saffron or yellow is for lentils, chickpeas, soybeans, meat, etc. Having all the three colors on our plate is important for a balanced diet. The importance of washing hands before and after eating will also be explained. Continue Reading