In the year 2003, the government of India came up with the initiative of the White Ribbon Alliance and declared National Safe Motherhood Day on the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi wife of Mahatma Gandhi on April 11th. Since then, Every year, The National Safe Motherhood Day is Celebrated nationwide on April 11th.

This day also focuses on reducing Anemia among women, institutional delivery, better pre, and postnatal health care, etc. which are necessary for mothers. India is one of the most high-risk places in the world to give birth, accounting for 15 percent of total maternal deaths worldwide.

With the theme “Remain at home amid coronavirus, protect mother and infant safe from coronavirus”, the government of India has kept maintaining the sound health of mothers, babies, and the young children are one of the post nation’s health goals.  

Here are some of the successful CSR-Funded programs for mother and child health in India.  

Nestle India Project Jagriti 

Nestle India launched Project Jagriti in partnership with MAMTA (Mamta Health Institute for Mother and Child), a nonprofit organization. From 2016 to 2018, the program ran across 15 districts of Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi, reaching out to 4.6 million beneficiaries; 1.5 million of whom were directly impacted. 

The CSR program focuses on creating peer-mentor support groups for counseling on healthy nutrition for pregnant and lactating women, encouraging the early initiation of breastfeeding, improving breastfeeding practices, and encouraging the uptake of public health services.  

Ultratech Cement 

This Aditya Birla Group company extends mother and child healthcare facilities for antenatal and post-natal care, mass immunization, nutrition, and escort services for institutional delivery.

 In collaboration with the District Health Department, Ultratech Cement’s mother and child healthcare project served 13,122 women this year. The intensive motivational drive towards responsible family raising led to 1,473 villagers going in for planned families across 16 locations this year.  

RB 

In the last decade, RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser) has reached out to millions of children and mothers to raise awareness around hygiene and sanitation. However, in India where 53% of the population does not have access to a toilet, there is an increased need for the intensity of CSR initiatives for mother and child health. 

RB has partnered with NGO Plan India amidst the raging spread of COVID-19. The partnership between the two organizations aims towards ensuring good health, proper hygiene, and adequate nutrition for mother and child.  

Tata Steel MANSI 

MANSI works on a public-private partnership model which focuses on building the capacity of existing government voluntary health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists-ASHAs, known as Sahiyas in Jharkhand). 

The CSR project for mother and child health was scaled up—from 167 pilot villages to 1,686 villages in Jharkhand and Odisha. It now covers a massive 2.2 lakh households in 12 blocks across Jharkhand and Odisha. 

Tata Steel MANSI overcame this through classroom sessions where Sahiyas are provided training, using largely visual or pictorial aids, on parameters that would address the root causes and underlying reasons for neonate and infant mortality.  

Vedanta Nand Ghar 

A dream project of Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, Nand Ghar is a network of model anganwadis where the thrust is on the inclusive development of children, women, and local communities. 

The CSR program reached an important milestone earlier this year when it rolled out its 1500th center in Varanasi. The project has been scaled up to seven states – Rajasthan, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh – and aims to touch the lives of 4 million community members while directly impacting around 2 lakh children and 1.8 lakh women on an annual basis.