Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today said that the Meghalaya Early Childhood Development Mission (MECDM) has set a benchmark for states in the country to follow.
He said it is a pioneering programme and taking cues from the same, four other Indian states have begun to conceptualize their own state ECD initiatives.
Addressing a state level workshop on MECDM, held for the first time in the State, the chief minister expressed pride that the State is emerging as a trailblazer for other states to follow, and that this is one of the many initiatives being taken up to improve the developmental indicators of the state.
He said that initiatives undertaken by the State government through various interventions for women, mothers, children and youth is a long-term goal to address the challenges in the State in achieving the vision to make Meghalaya one of the top 10 states in the country. He said that every scheme and mission being implemented in the State is interconnected.
Emphasising on the importance of working on a mission mode as opposed to the generic schematic approach towards improving developmental indicators he also encouraged all stakeholders present to adopt a mission-mode approach in implementing the mission, to work with purpose, clear outcomes and in a time-bound manner.
The workshop was held under the theme, “Unleashing every child’s full potential for a bright tomorrow”.
Principal Secretary and Development Commissioner, Sampath Kumar spoke at length about the mission, vision and journey of the MECDM. He said the mission is a multidisciplinary, research based approach which will not only lead to a holistic development of a child but also to overcome poverty and inter-generational gap. The ECD mission focuses not only on the child but also on parents and propagates the 1000 days gap period in terms of birth spacing, including responsible parenthood, which is crucial for the well being of the mothers as well as the children.
Kumar informed that the MECDM is unique in the sense that for the first time, Meghalaya has taken the initiative to cover 1500+ uncovered villages under the ICDS programme since the year 1975. This is being done by building the capacity of the Self Help Group network across the state to provide ECD services and growth monitoring. He said that currently, the state has a network of more than 40,000 women-led SHGs which acts as a huge social capital for taking forward the vision and mission of the MECDM.
The progress of the MECDM was also highlighted at the workshop. Some of the key areas undertaken under the mission are egg distribution to children, pregnant and nursing mothers under ICDS launched on August 15 this year, the ECD (Day and Parent Circles) at the community level pilot interventions where parents are trained on the importance of early childhood development and meaningful interaction with children with emphasis on involvement of the fathers.
Through the mission, 1500+ villages under the ICDS programme are covered for the first time and an ECD helpline number to call parents at least 21 times over the first 1000 days for counselling on healthy practices and information was made available.
The workshop witnessed participation from the officials of Social Welfare, Community & Rural Development, Education and Health & Family Welfare Departments as well as district and block level officials including resource persons from outside the state.
