Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation Launches ‘Kanya Express’ To Address Girls’ Anemia Issues In Odisha’s Jajpur

Bhubaneswar: In order to address anemia among adolescent girls and supplement the government initiative of Anemia Mukta Bharat (AMB), the Bansidhar and Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF) has launched Kanya Express, an innovative mobile health van in Odisha’s Jajpur district.

Sandeep Bapuraoji Narade, vice president-Head Mining Business Unit and Executive in charge Mines, flagged off the health vans at Administration Building, Sukinda Mines (Chromite) in Jajpur district on Wednesday.

The Kanya Express will regularly check haemoglobin level of young girls, facilitate distribution of iron folic acid supplements and deworming tablets through government network and impart awareness on anemia related illnesses, balance nutrition and wellness. BIPF will also provide adolescent girls with seed kits to create a nutri-garden in the backyard of their houses which will help with nutrition supplementation.

Speaking on the occasion, Shaifalika Panda, CEO-BIPF said, “Kanya Express will be a game changer for adolescent girls by helping them understand nutritional needs and address anemia related challenges. This project has been introduced with an objective to reduce the intergenerational challenges caused due to anemia and poor nutrition and in turn reduce MMR and IMR in the program areas.”

The Kanya Express is a customised mobile health vehicle which will travel to far-flung areas and villages in Jajpur district. It will cover 104 villages of 25 panchayats in Sukinda block of Jajpur district in the current year.

In addition to haemoglobin checks and iron folic acid supplements, the Kanya Express Initiative (KEI) will work in collaboration with Chief District Medical Officer, District Social Welfare Officer and District Education Officer to address development issues of adolescent girls of Sukinda. The vehicle will reach to every village at least for 11 times with various awareness generation messages for the inclusive development of adolescent health.

Every fifth person in India is an adolescent and 50.6% of them are girls. Adolescent girls are prone to diverse vulnerabilities and 56% are anemic. Low hemoglobin leads to physical weakness, which reduces their chances to learn skills and be productive. Further anemia also leads to difficult pregnancies, complicated childbirth and low birthweight babies who are then prone to several complications.

Gayadhar Parida, ABEO Sukinda; Dipu Ranjan Gai, Nutrition Expert, OMBADC; Bikash Patra, Kaliapani Sarapanch; Sanjaya Parida, Sarapanch, Kankadpal; Umarani Pradhan, Samiti Sabhya, Ransol Panchayat; headmistress Jyostna Rani Jena of Kaliapani High School; Narayan Chandra Dhir, general secretary, SRCKMC Union, Central and IMFA Branch Committee members and employees of the company were present on the occasion.