There are very few districts in India those can match the financial muscle of Keonjhar in Odisha. Yet, the district suffers the ignominy of having the highest number of stunted, underweight children and anaemic pregnant women among the 30 districts in the State.
After losing two sons soon after their births successively in 2020 and 2021, 29-year-old Sisira Dehury, was determined to save her third child this year.
She undertook a 20-km autorickshaw ride from the remote Emiri village under the Bansapal block of Keonjhar and spent two months in a maa gruha — maternity waiting home — prior to her delivery.
