Phulwari - where children flower
Taking cue from the poor malnutrition status, in 2012 the Chattisgarh Government launched a creche program for children upto the age of 3 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Starting from Surguja district, about 2850 Phulwaris (creches) cater to about 35000 children, 8000 pregnant women and an equal number of lactating mothers in 85 tribal blocks in 19 districts. At this scale this is a unique programme for India, also internationally. The Phulwari is a space volunteered by a village family, run by an informal collective of mothers and is overseen by a system of community health workers known as Mitanins and their coordinators.
With an initial focus was on malnutrition, the program advanced into domains of early childhood development. With ‘touch, talk and play’ as the principle an attempt has been made to integrate psycho-social development within child friendly physical spaces, the creation of which done almost exclusively by mothers also means increasing sense of ownership amongst mothers and the village community. One of the spatial interventions included; Improved smokeless stoves with the theme of 'less smoke - less wood - less time'. Training, supported by innovatively designed print and video material is an integral part of this program. As of February 2018, about 850 improved cooking stoves had been made and about 500 villagers, almost all exclusively women have been trained in making Improved stoves.
These interventions have improved attendance, increased time spent in the Phulwari and has had an overall positive impact on the target group. Going beyond the creche itself, the Phulwari program gives us an opportunity to influence home/family spaces to become child friendly.
This program is run by the State Health Resource Centre on behalf of the Departments of Health, Women and Child Welfare and Panchayati Raj. It also benefits from the support of UNICEF and Centre for Learning Resources as the technical agency.