Village Bijulia, Samho Block, Dist. Begusarai, Bihar, INDIA. Ritu Rani, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), on her way to Anganwadi centre in Begusarai, Bihar. Social Mobilisation Network (SMNet), a UNICEF-supported initiative which mobilizes the community at every level village, block, district, region, state to get their children immunized from basic diseases as part of the governments routine immunization programmes. SMNet was started essentially in the 2000s as part of the government's anti-Polio campaigns. SMNet officers thus operate at every level, starting from the village level (where there's a Community Mobilisation Coordinator, typically belonging to the village), to the block, district, sub-region, and region, where there are corresponding mobilizing coordinators for every block, district, sub-region etc. SMNet is premised on the idea that people from within the community are the best ones to mobilize others in their people be it their village, their block or district. But this is where officers such as Bijay Ranjan prove that familiarity is merely an added advantage to the mobilizing process: the real trick lies in effective communication. It is this that made SMNet successful to the extent that SMNET Bihar officers have gone on mobilization drives to other states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh etc. Although SMNet started as a tool to fight Polio campaign, over the years it has transcended its original definition, and become a pool of human resource that can be realigned to any other social/developmental goal. In fact, as of 2015, exactly a year after the WHO declared India as Polio Free, the SMNet is busy tackling diarrhea, malnutrition, hygiene and breast-feeding, all of which are critical to keeping Polio at bay. Immunization in India continues to be an ongoing challenge.

UNICEF India/2015/Dhiraj Singh.