Health welfare project to be expanded to other parts of Raj

A welfare programme aimed at improving health of mothers and children in Rajasthan will be expanded to other parts of the state, officials today said.
The project, run by a foundation started with Jhalawar district.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has asked the officials to identify districts with different geographical conditions to scale up the programme. She has laid emphasis on effective execution of the programme in districts falling in Tribal Area Development region, an official statement said.
Under the project, Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife (ANM), ASHA and Anganwadi workers, jointly identified as AAA, do mapping of villages for recording health and nutrition-related details of pregnant women, lactating mothers and newborns.

Founding Director, Antara Foundation Ashok Alexander told a conference, "This project is showing good results as the entire functioning of these three health workers became easy when they joined each other"
"Adolescent girls of the village, aged between 13 and 19 years,were also being made part of the project".

Health Minister Rajendra Rathore said Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) could be effectively controlled with the assistance of Anganwadi workers joining ANM and ASHA.
Vice Chairman of the state-level Committee for Monitoring of 20-point Agenda, Digambar Singh said the innovative idea of the adolescent girls partnering in the project would yield good results.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje also emphasised on the
need to conserve rainwater in urban areas along with the ongoing Mukhyamantri Jal Swavalamban Abhiyan in rural regions of the state.
She directed the officials to develop rainwater harvesting structures in residential colonies as well common facilities in various cities including Jaipur.
Raje said that conservation of water was required in urban regions and asked the urban planners to use modern technologies while developing sewerage system and install underground ducting in the cities.
"The city developers should be careful enough and ensure that drinking water supply lines and sewerage lines are not laid parallel," she said.

The CM also instructed for urgent action on shifting of central prisons out of the densely populated localities in 16 districts.