Nutrition message will reach door to door, Jiveka didian field

Patna. The 9th National Potion Month is being organized in Bihar from September 9 to October 8, 2026 under the direction of National Rural Employment Mission and Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. This year the theme of the campaign is 'Our Backyard, Our Responsibility', which aims to strengthen the grassroots movement against malnutrition and create positive attitudes towards health and nutrition among people.

Jiveka Didian has been playing an important role in this campaign for the past eight years. This has resulted in awareness about health and nutrition, increase in institutionalized and safe motherhood and reduction in infant mortality rate.

Special attention is being paid to the health and nutrition of pregnant and lactating women and children aged 7 to 23 months. The campaign is being carried out in a systematic manner through Jiveka's 11.88 lakh self-help groups, over 73 thousand village organizations and 1684 cluster level federations.

Weekly meetings of self-help groups discuss topics like balanced diet, consumption of coarse grains, prevention of anemia, importance of breast milk, child care, supplementary food, kitchen garden and cleanliness. Rallies, awareness campaigns, meetings with Anganwadi centers and menstrual hygiene and anemia screening camps for adolescent girls are also being organized by village organizations.

At the cluster level Jiveka organizations are organizing nutrition fairs and other activities in collaboration with district and block administrations, ICDS and health departments. Women and children are being sensitized on nutrition, immunization, child development and institutional motherhood through door-to-door visits by trained Master Resource Persons, Community Nutrition Resource Savvy and Jiveka Matras.

According to the department, the campaign is being continuously monitored at district, block and panchayat level. The aim is to transform the ongoing efforts against malnutrition into a grassroots movement to accelerate the building of a healthy and nutritious Bihar.