November Limelight

We are immensely proud to feature the Department of Women & Child Development, Government of Maharashtra, in this issue of Limelight. The Rajmata Jijau MCHN mission started by the government aims to decrease low-birth weight in newborns and anaemia in the state by 2022. We are honoured to be their digital partners for making their services accessible in all parts of the state, including remote rural areas.

A TALE OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH DIGITIZATION

Women and Child Development department under the Government of Maharashtra is dedicated to promoting the survival, protection, development and welfare of women and children in a holistic manner.

Tarang Suposhit Maharashtracha, a digital initiative for extending its reach to potential beneficiaries, has proven to be quite successful, especially during the pandemic.

If you look at the population, women and children comprise about 60 per cent of the state’s population of about 11 crores, which includes around 600K pregnant women, nearly 500K lactating mothers and ~7 million children in the less than 6 years age range. WCD has embraced digital transformation on a grand scale by venturing into IVR, incoming phone calls, SMSs, WhatsApp bots and more.

WCD’s initiatives have been widely adopted in the interior parts of Maharashtra to great success and have stood out in its modernity along with serving as a model for other government initiatives and departments

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOCUS

WCD launched a helpline on the phone number: +91-8080809063 for information on nutrition and child care. Since October 2020, more than 2.1 million calls have been made, while the WhatsApp bot has over 1.3 million registered users.

Since the WCD chatbot launched in October 2020, the chatbot on WhatsApp has conversed in the Marathi language and has already exchanged over 55 million messages. Additionally, more than 3.1 million SMS have been sent through the chatbot platform by WCD.

The institution also uses automated IVR (voice) services through which information on nutrition, healthy recipes, and other details are shared.

RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION

WCD has made a giant leap into innovation in terms of information dissemination to its large audience. Multiple campaigns with the help of yellow.ai, have been deployed to engage with its state-wide and diverse audience, with the help of IVR, SMS and WhatsApp chatbots.

In addition to dispensing nutrition information, the chatbots help women and children access health information, recipes, and medical information as the need may be. These channels perform cohesively to ensure that intended users get adequate information at their fingertips through the channel of their convenience.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

With the passion, drive and reach, shown by the Department of Women & Child Development, Government of Maharashtra, through this mission, we are confident that they will be successful in this endeavour to tackle malnutrition and build a healthier state.

Stay tuned for more posts from our Limelight series where we bring to the centre-stage -global organizations from different industries, that are pushing boundaries and embracing technology to redefine excellence in their fields.

Team yellow.ai