In a remarkable recognition of creative public service, Jhabua Collector Neha Meena has been selected for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2024. The award acknowledges her groundbreaking initiative, the ‘Moti Aai Abhiyan’, launched to tackle malnutrition in the tribal-majority district of Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh. The award will be conferred on April 21, 2025, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on the occasion of National Civil Services Day.
Earlier, on January 25, President Smt. Droupadi Murmu presented Neha Meena, also the District Election Officer of Jhabua, with the Best Electoral Practices Award for 2024-25. This was in recognition of her successful SVEEP campaign, where she creatively used the mascot couple ‘Chunavi Kaka – Chunavi Kaki’, dressed in traditional Bhagoria festival attire, to raise voter awareness. The award ceremony took place during the 15th National Voters’ Day at the Manekshaw Centre in Delhi, attended by Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar and Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal.
“Moti Aai” – An innovative campaign by Jhabua collector
The ‘Moti Aai Abhiyan’ is being widely lauded for its innovation and impact. Designed by Collector Neha Meena, the campaign has proven effective in safeguarding children from malnutrition while promoting prenatal care, vaccination, girls’ education, and overall nutrition awareness. So impressive is its model that it is now being considered for replication in other districts.
The campaign emerged from a deep understanding of local realities. In Jhabua, where many parents migrate for work, young children are often left with grandparents who struggle to provide adequate care. Under Meena’s leadership, the administration launched ‘Moti Aai,’ a cadre of trained, elderly local women who stepped in to offer both nutritional and emotional support to these vulnerable children.
“Moti Aai” translates to “elder mother,” a term of reverence in tribal communities, where elders and traditional practices are highly respected. Collector Meena thoughtfully integrated this cultural ethos into the campaign. She wrote folk songs in the local Bhili dialect, conducted awareness sessions in villages and hamlets, and identified respected elderly women in each community to serve as caregivers. These women, after receiving proper training, became the lifeline of the campaign, trusted ‘Moti Aais’ in every village.
What made the initiative especially impactful was the deep trust these women commanded. Since the Moti Aais were from the same villages, fluent in local dialects, and known faces in the community, mothers didn’t hesitate to hand over their children to them. This organic trust eliminated the need for formal persuasion. The caregivers offered Ayurvedic oil massages and nutritious meals, a unique blend of traditional healing and modern nutrition, which led to rapid health improvement in many children.
Jhabua: A district in need
Jhabua, situated in western Madhya Pradesh, is a predominantly tribal district, with over 85 per cent of its population belonging to the Bhil and Bhilala communities. Despite its rich cultural legacy, the district faces chronic challenges, poor literacy, malnutrition, inadequate healthcare, and widespread unemployment. Rain-fed subsistence agriculture remains the primary livelihood, but erratic rainfall and lack of irrigation infrastructure have made farming unreliable. Geographical isolation and poor access to education and services have locked Jhabua in a cycle of poverty and underdevelopment.
Over 1,325 Moti Aais trained
A total of 1,325 Moti Aais were trained across the district. These caregivers helped over 1,000 children recover from malnutrition and shift to a normal health category. One of the major revelations of the campaign was the community’s lack of awareness, many families didn’t even realise their children were undernourished. Upon collecting data, it became clear that the children of migrant families were the most affected. The Moti Aais filled this crucial gap, providing care that otherwise would have been unavailable.
1130 children recovered without any additional budget
As of July 2024, 1,130 out of 1,950 severely malnourished children had shown significant recovery, without the use of any additional budget. This achievement highlights the power of leveraging existing schemes and community participation to bring meaningful change. The integrated approach combining the efforts of the Women and Child Development, Health, and AYUSH departments, brought government support to the grassroots, making the campaign a contemporary model for rural transformation.
Identifying migrant families and ensuring targeted care
The first step of the campaign involved identifying migrant families and enlisting their children for focused care. With consistent nutritional rehabilitation and traditional therapy under the Moti Aais, children were gradually restored to health. “Seeing the kids healthy brings the greatest satisfaction,” says Collector Neha Meena. “Today, there’s greater awareness in the villages, and communities are actively participating in improving children’s health.”
Impact and expansion
The success of the ‘Moti Aai Abhiyan’ has reached the state level. Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Development Minister Nirmala Bhuria recently inaugurated the ‘Moti Aai’ mascot at a district event in Jhabua. Praising the campaign’s impact, she reiterated the state’s resolve to upgrade over 12,670 mini Anganwadis into fully equipped centers—over 800 of which are in Jhabua alone.
The celebration also honoured Anganwadi workers, who received certificates and badges of appreciation. In a gesture of cultural pride and community participation, workers adorned Minister Bhuria in traditional attire and performed dances to the song “Moti Aai Aavi Gi,” reflecting how deeply the campaign had resonated with the people.
A model for community-driven development
The ‘Moti Aai’ campaign is now hailed as a model for culturally-rooted, community-led solutions to public health issues. By blending traditional knowledge with modern practices and relying on the strength of local women, it has shown that lasting change doesn’t always need more money—sometimes, it just needs more trust, empathy, and inclusion.
As Jhabua prepares to celebrate this national honour, the ‘Moti Aai Abhiyan’ stands as a powerful testament to what visionary governance and deep community involvement can achieve. It is not just a fight against malnutrition, it is a roadmap to inclusive, sustainable development.
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