Gram Panchayat Akola is situated 25 km away from Budhni block headquarters. Its population is 962 comprising of 102 households.
Earlier the Anganwadi worker did not collect children and people had to send children themselves. She gave only one type of meal for several weeks and did not open the facilities of the Anganwadi for the children. The female youth facilitator and 5-6 girls went to the worker and questioned her behaviour. The Anganwadi worker knew the facts but had behaved according to her whim because there was no one monitoring her. She readily agreed to change. She began going out to collect children. Now over 40-45 children participate whereas only 20 did so earlier. The meals are according to menu and even the parents have been told to ensure that the children get the meals according to the menu. The children also get to play with toys and other facilities of the Anganwadi.
Further, health services have changed for the better. When work started in the village they did a survey and found that the major problem afflicting girls was anaemia. The girls and boys did not get any information on health. The ANM and MPW only saw vaccination as their task and did not include education in it. When they started work and organized groups they were the first to give information. They conducted community monitoring of service providers. The villagers did not know about ANM and her services. The ANM did come regularly but the villagers hardly availed of her services. The group went to parents whose children had not been vaccinated or had done so only partly and motivated them to vaccinate their children. Even ward members were not aware about the ANM till they gained the information in the Panchayat Health Trainings. Initially there were problems in the sense that people saw them as too young or did not see any benefits of the procedures. The ANM and MPW sat in the Panchayat and asked the Anganwadi to bring children. She used to bring children according to her whim. Now they ensure that children of all families are brought for vaccination.
Girls are now very active. Each girl does a survey of the pregnant women in their mohalla and ensures that she gets the requisite services. The boys basically help the girls in monitoring service delivery.