Husbands receiving ‘koseli’ on behalf of their expecting wife

-Durga Devkota

Rita Bista of Bandebipur is seven months pregnant. She was accompanied to the health centre by her husband. "I came to know a lot after coming here, I will give full attention to the need of food, rest and favourable environment for my wife," the husband said.

The Janaki rural municipality of Kailali has been providing koseli or nutrition gift to expecting women in the rural municipality, including eggs, iodized salt, sanitation tools and one thousand rupees in cash. The rural municipality has initiated the koseli programme in order to improve the nutrition of new mothers and infants and bring down maternal and infant mortality rate.

The rural municipality has allocated 700,000 rupees to distribute the nutrition gifts. The rural municipality has been distributing the gifts twice in a year, according to its Chair Pradip Kumar Chaudhary. "Giving nutrition gift just for one day alone is not enough but it does help create awareness among the women and their families," Chaudhary said.

The nutrition gift is however given to women only who come to the health centres for regular check-up since they become pregnant. "Apart from making pregnant women visit health centres regularly, they are also aware about the need to pay attention to personal hygiene, rest and food habits," said chief of the health unit of the rural municipality Jit Bahadur Chaudhary.

The nutrition gift initiative is promoted by the community women health volunteers in the villages.