Malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency are common among the women and children in the Santhal Pargana region. Apart from imparting nutritional knowledge to communities, Badlao Foundation promotes kitchen garden concept at household level to change food habits of tribal communities so they could lead healthy lives. Over the years all the families are being mobilized to take care of promoting vegetable cultivation in their gardens. In the vegetable cultivation, emphasis is being given to cultivate green vegetables like brinjal, bitter gourd, green gourd, pumpkin, lady finger, etc., according to season. They are also being motivated to plant fruits like papaya, drumstick, banana, etc.
The districts of Santhal Pargana division have literacy rate of about 65 per cent. There is a wide gender gap in literacy rate. The share of literates among Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Cates goes down further. ST and ST women have even poorer literacy rate. This low literacy rate and age old traditions of the area, particularly those of tribals, lead to poor quality of life in the area.
As Santhal Pargana is a predominantly rural, and many villages are located in remote hilly and forested areas, government health services are conspicuous by their absence. Malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency are common among the women and children in the Santhal Pargana region.
| Thematic area Education, Health and Nutrition addresses the following Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations: | |
|---|---|
| Goal #2 | Zero hunger |
| Goal #3 | Good health and wellbeing |
| Goal #4 | Quality education |
| These goals are to be achieved in the period 2016-2030. | |
Badlao Foundation imparts nutritional knowledge to communities. It has popularized kitchen garden concept at household level to change food habits of tribal communities so they could lead healthy lives. Over the years all the families are being mobilized to take care of promoting vegetable cultivation in their gardens. They are also being motivated to plant fruits like papaya, drumstick, banana, etc.
Improved nutrition leads to better health. Massive awareness drives are conducted to enable the target people to lead a healthy lifestyle and protect themselves from diseases, particularly seasonal and preventive diseases.
Lack of education, particularly among SCs and STs, leads to many ills in the society. Girls are still married off early in the area. Superstitions galore and evils like witchcraft persist. It is common to declare single women dayan (witch) and persecute. Instances of such women even losing their lives still occur.
