Subash Kumar for BeyondHeadlines
Allahabad is the most populous district of Uttar Pradesh. According to DLHS data, Allahabad district population increases by one lakh every year which is not a good sign for the district. It is call for district officials to make a strategy to stabilize population explosion.
On the population stabilization fortnight, District Health Administration and Urban Health Initiative organizes a unique Contest called “Smart Jodi” for couples of Allahabad who have planned their life and sized their family. The objective of this contest was to disseminate information on family planning and increase spousal communication through visual medium.
Awareness on family planning high with 96% where as discussion on family planning amongst spouse is less than 60 percent. Here lies the importance of spousal communication to increase the family planning. The Urban Health Initiative communication strategy envisions that every household in Uttar Pradesh will have confident, expert couples who will discuss, choose and consistently use the right contraceptive method in order to realize their dreams and achieve their aspirations of a bright future for their families. Keeping in mind the strategy, we got an opportunity to organize “Smart Jodi Contest” which is unique and new test in family planning project and it will engage people and encourage action on family planning said Mr. Rochak Bhardwaj, City Manager Urban Health Initiative.
Smart Jodi Contest was a week long activity on Live News Channel from 3rd July to 9th July. Promotion was done a week prior through Video promo, Scrolls, news coverage and community workers at the field level. SMS line was opened for a week and everyday at 8:30 PM a film named “Zindagi Ka Plan” on family planning were used to shown on Live News. At the end of film a question used to be asking on family planning focus on spousal communication. The answer of question had to send a given number 9151405395. Winner has been selected through lucky draw with physical verification as we got hundreds of SMS and had a tough situation to apply any other method to get a winner. Winner was awarded with certificate signed by District Magistrate and CMO and given prize by Urban Health Initiative.
Talking about this Dr. Ramesh Kumar Srivastava, Chief Medical officer, Allahabad says “There are a lot of myths surrounding family planning which inhibit people from accepting family planning, people are more likely to talk accept it when they hear of other people’s positive experiences, it gives them the strength.
Smart Jodi winner Deepika said that “I am very happy to become “Smart Jodi” of Allahabadand I will now encourage more and more couple form Allahabad to become Smart Jodi in their life. When we plan for everything we must plan for our happy life also”.
Safdar Ali, Communication Expert, UHI said that “it is the right of every human being to decide the number and timing of their children, and this is the pervading sentiment of World Population Day. Family planning has the capacity to reduce rate of maternal deaths by 32% and cut infant mortality by 10 percent”.
Nearly thousand women die everyday due to pregnancy and childbirth related complications. Empowering women with knowledge enables them to make informed decisions about spacing their pregnancies and planning the size of their families. It is here that the World Population Day assumes significance in making the world a better place to live in.
