Sangareddy: Medak District Collector B.Venkatesam called upon the 1,840 young volunteers enrolled in Samishti, a village level micro plan for child development, to help in converting the district into a child-friendly one. He was addressing the village volunteers meet here on Thursday, jointly organised by the Medak District Voluntary Agencies Network (MEDVAN), UNICEF and the district administration.

The Collector wanted the volunteers to learn friendly ways of conveying the 16 major points identified by the Samishti to the women in the villages for a better future for their offsprings. The Collector said, that so far, Samishti has been implemented by the MEDVAN in 15 mandals

covering 505 villages. Appreciating the voluntary spirit of the girls and boys attending the programme, he advised them to direct their energies toward constructive activities like social work.

Motivator

He also inaugurated an exhibition on salient features of the Samishti programme by the UNICEF.

Television anchor Jhansi, donning the role of a motivator, encouraged the volunteers to use skits, songs and dance to attract the attention of the villagers while teaching them very pertinent issues in childcare, particularly the immunisation, pre and post natal nutrition and the use of iodized salt. Volunteers from different mandals presented their experiences in bringing attitudinal changes in backward villages.

Earlier, addressing the volunteers, UNICEF representative for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Mr. Michel Saint Lot exhorted them not to look for Government's help while dealing with social issues. MEDVAN president Manohar Rao informed that more than a 1000 volunteers have been trained in safe drinking water methods in all 15 selected mandals. UNICEF's child protection officer Sudha Murali, Samishti programme monitoring offer Piyush also spoke.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail