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DELHI: Doordarshan’s weekly programme on health issues Kalyani, which
got its eighth extension from the Health and Family Welfare Ministry in October
last year, has now signed an agreement with the National AIDS Control Organization
(NACO).
An MoU for one year was signed here in this connection between
Doordarshan Director-General Aruna Sharma and Aradhana Johri, Joint Secretary
in NACO.
Kalyani
India is an internationally acclaimed Health Communication Initiative of the Health
and Family Welfare Ministry and Doordarshan.
Kalyani, which is watched
very anxiously by people in rural and semi-urban India, has already won several
awards including one by the Malaria Foundation International. The programme has
been awarded the News Show of the Year Award for using creative plays and other
means to help and educate the Indian Population at large about Malaria and other
diseases of major concern in India.
Earlier, the programme had been selected
by the Asian Media Information Communication Centre (AMIC), Singapore, as the
best communication strategy on HIV/AIDS from India for the project titled ‘HIV/AIDS
Prevention in Asia: Communicating the Message’.
Kalyani,
which means "benedictions from a Goddess", is broadcast in nine states
creating health awareness about malaria, tuberculosis, tobacco, reproductive health,
sanitation, hygiene and HIV/AIDS. The programme is produced in partnership with
the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Family Welfare and NACO.
As a result
of the programme, Kalyani Clubs have sprung up in various parts of the country
to spread the message of good health. The concept of Kalyani clubs (with membership
of local people of the village who watch the programme avidly and strategize on
how to implement the health messages) was a crucial part of the communications
strategy. Senior
Doordarshan Deputy Director General Usha Bhasin, who also heads the development
communication division of Doordarshan, told indiantelevision.com that the objective
of forming Kalyani clubs was to give a platform to women, particularly those who
had never stepped out of their homes, to participate in the process of development.
"The
concept of Kalyani clubs was part of the communication strategy of the Kalyani
programme started in 2002. We know that as a medium we can enter into the houses
of people but we need support to sustain the messages”, Bhasin said. | 
