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MKBKSH Endline Evaluation Brief – Government & Donors _SR
MAIN KUCH BHI KAR SAKTI HOON:
SEASON 1 - CHANGING KNOWLEDGE,
ATTITUDES & PRACTICE
the existing norms around early marriages,
early pregnancy, closely spaced births,
contraceptive use and sex selection.
“Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon -
MKBKSH” was produced by the Population
Foundation of India (PFI) with support from
the Department of International Development,
Government of the United Kingdom (DFID).
This popular culture entertainment program in
the form of a TV and radio serial challenged
prevalent norms on social determinants of
health and family planning. It sought to bring
about positive behaviour change among
couples, parents and other caregivers.
This policy brief summarizes the findings
of an endline evaluation undertaken to assess
the effectiveness of MKBKSH in bringing
about change in the knowledge, attitudes and
practices related to family planning issues,
age at marriage for girls, delaying age at first
birth, gender based discrimination and
violence and sex selection.
The evaluation shows that while the
program was definitely well received, it also
had a significant impact on the level of
knowledge and awareness of the population. It
challenged existing norms in a manner that
was appreciated by the viewers.
INTRODUCTION
Reducing maternal and child mortality
especially in high fertility states like Bihar and
Madhya Pradesh (MP) that account for nearly
15% of India’s population is crucial.
Addressing widespread social customs on
determinants of health and family planning is
a key strategy in addressing not only the issue
of population stabilisation but also of
sustainable development with a gender-
sensitive and rights-based approach.
PFI produced a popular culture
entertainment education intervention (EEI), a
TV and radio serial to increase knowledge and
change perception and attitudes of women,
men, service providers and other influences on
the social determinants of health and family
planning. This is a drama series titled “Main
Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon” that challenged
The first 52 episodes of this serial were
aired on the state run Doordarshan channel, to
capitalize on its immense reach and target the
maximum number of viewers. A radio version
of the serial and an Interactive Voice
Response System (IVRS) were also launched.
These were supplemented by community
outreach through NGOs and government
community health workers (ASHAs, ANMs)
to inform and engage target audiences.
While each episode represented a piece
in the longer storyline, individual theme-based
episodes could be separately used beyond the
life of the serial. Broadcast of the TV and
Radio serial was complemented by field
activities promoting message recall and
reinforcement to aid change in attitudes and
perceptions on the issues surrounding family
planning.
Methodology
The endline evaluation aimed at:
Understanding the impact of the EEI on the
knowledge, attitudes related to age at
marriage among the community, awareness
of family planning methods and usage,
issues of women empowerment, gender
discrimination and domestic violence
Gauging the reach and recall of the EEI
among the target audience
Geographical Reach & Coverage
MKBKSH: Season 1, was broadcast in
the states of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh,
reaching 35.7 % of TV owning households
overall, with Bihar at (41.7%) and MP at
(33.5%).
MKBKSH also reached 71.8% respondents
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MKBKSH Endline Evaluation Brief – Government & Donors _SR
who owned radios. This study was conducted
in 16 selected districts of Bihar (7) and
Madhya Pradesh (9) covering married and
unmarried males and females, mothers-in-law
and front line health workers.
Study Design
groups. There was a significant increase in
women (15%) and men (30%) who felt that
loss of education is an adverse consequence of
early marriage. Further there was also an
increase in women (13%) and men (29%) who
felt that early marriage causes risk to the life
of the child and mother.
The overall aim of the study was to
assess the current levels of Knowledge,
Attitude and Practices (KAP) on family
planning, child marriage (especially for girls),
son preference and sex selection. Baseline and
post exposure assessment surveys were
conducted amongst the respondents. The
overall design for the study is shown below:
Knowledge about Child Marriage Act and
Legal Age at Marriage
The level of awareness regarding the
Child Marriage Act among respondents
exposed to the program was found to have
increased across all the target groups by a
significant 13% for women, 7% for men and
21% for MILs. This increase was especially
pertinent in illiterate people with a sharp
increase of 18% for illiterate women and 36%
for illiterate men.
KEY EVALUATION FINDINGS
I. Age at Marriage
The EEI intervention was done to create
awareness among the community about rights
of women to live their lives on their own
terms, which included the age at which she
should be married.
Ideal Time for Marriage
After exposure to the program, there was
an increase of 19% in women who believed
that a girl should get married on finding a
suitable match and 6% decrease in women
who believed that a girl should get married on
attaining puberty. There was also a significant
9% decline in the number of mothers in law
(MIL) who felt that if a girl is not studying she
should get married.
Adverse Consequences of Early Marriage
Awareness regarding the adverse effects
of getting married before the ideal age was
found to have increased among all the target
Perception and Attitude towards Age at
Marriage
Of the respondents who were exposed to
the program, those with higher exposure were
now less inclined to marry off girls before 18
years of age and a larger number had a say in
decisions with regards to marriage age of
children in the family.
II. Family Planning
Family planning issues and the rights of
women in deciding when to have children
were key issues to be transferred through the
TV serial and the radio programme.
Ideal age of the mother to have her first child
There was a significant increase in the
proportion of women (8%) and mothers in law
(6%) who considered 21-25 years to be the
ideal age of mother to have her first child
compared to a decrease in the number of
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MKBKSH Endline Evaluation Brief – Government & Donors _SR
women (9%) and mothers in law (11%) who
thought 18-20 years to be the ideal age.
Contraceptives Usage
The program had a significant impact on
the use of modern methods in the family
planning behaviour of women. There was a
13% decrease of women who reported not
using any method, 11% increase in use of
condoms, 6% increase in use of pills, 3%
increase in use of loop, 1% increase in use of
injectables, and 3% increase in use of
emergency contraception.
Interval between two Pregnancies
There was a significant increase in the
number of married women – from 57% in the
baseline to 63% after the intervention - who
thought that a 2-3 year gap between
pregnancies was important and a tangible
decrease of 8% women who now believed that
a 1-2 year gap was enough. 86% of the MILs
exposed to the program considered 2 to 3
years as an ideal age gap in comparison to
57% in the baseline – an increase of 29%.
Benefits of Family Planning
The program was found to have a
significant impact on the awareness of men
and women with regards to the benefits of
family planning. There was an 8% increase in
the number of men and 16% in MILs who
thought that the next child would be healthier
as a result, 7% increase in women who said
that it promoted wellbeing of the family, and
8% increase in women who felt that they had
better control over finances due to family
planning.
Awareness of Family Planning Methods
There awareness of modern spacing
methods among women increased more as
compared to men. The awareness of male
sterilization increased across all target groups
sharply- 15% in men, 18% in women, and
16% in MILs. More women (4%) were now
aware of modern methods such as IUDs, and
more men (4%) were now aware of male
condoms.
The overall proportion of women not using
any of the family planning methods decreased
by 10% after exposure to the serial while
usage of modern methods increased by 4%.
The program also had a strong impact on
perceptions regarding modern methods – there
was a 25% decline of women who cited fear of
health impacts as a reason against using
modern methods, a 22% decrease in women
who said methods not preferred, and a 12%
decrease in women who said that their
husband/family does not approve.
Attitudes and Perception towards Family
Planning
The program helped in changing
attitudes towards family planning. There was a
significant increase in women (7%) and men
(7%) who believed that there should be a three
years gap between successive pregnancies, an
increase in women (12%) and men (4%) who
were confident in accessing family planning
services, a 14% increase in women who
realized the importance of not keeping on
having children till a son was born and a 8%
increase in those who agreed that it was the
right of a woman to decide when to have
children.
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MKBKSH Endline Evaluation Brief – Government & Donors _SR
III. Sex Determination
Information dissemination on the legal
framework of sex determination and education
on which parent is responsible for determining
the gender of the child were key components
of the serial.
Awareness of Law
There was a significant increase in men
(17%), MILs (28%) and women (8%) whose
awareness about the law to prevent sex
determination grew. There was also an
increase in the number of unmarried youth –
both males and females who grew aware of the
law after exposure to the program.
IV. Gender Discrimination
The EEI aimed at education on women
empowerment, informing women about their
rights, their role in household decision making
and gender equality.
Perception and Attitudes towards Woman
Empowerment
Less women (17% decrease) felt that
once a girl is married she cannot return to her
parent’s home, that a man should be more
educated than his wife (6% decrease), that he
should have a final say in all family matters
(6% decrease) and that he should remarry if
his wife does not give birth to a son (9%
decrease). 13% more women now felt a
woman has the right to decide whether she
wants to continue with her pregnancy or not.
Domestic Violence
There was a significant decrease in
women who believed that a woman deserved
to be beaten if she wanted to delay her
pregnancy (4%), refuses sex with her husband
(8%) or argues with him (12%), if her husband
suspects her to be unfaithful (31%) or she
neglects the house and children (21%). There
was a similar impact on the attitudes of men
with an even greater decrease (31%) among
men who believed that women should be
beaten on suspicion of unfaithfulness.
CONCLUSIONS
Program Feedback
The overall reach of the program was be
36% in all the TV owning households across
the states of Bihar and MP. Respondents
enjoyed watching the program. There was a
high recall of characters from the program,
with Dr. Sneha – the main protagonist being
extremely popular and inspiring. Respondents
across all the target groups also said that they
were able to relate to other characters in the
program.
Age at Marriage
It made a marked difference in the
attitudes of married men regarding the age of
marriage. It also highlighted the adverse
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consequences of early marriage. Awareness on
the legal age at marriage went up among all
target groups. .
Family Planning
All target groups also understood the
importance of the ideal age for a woman to
have her first delivery. They also now
understood better the benefits of Family
Planning and the choice of FP methods. The
awareness about modern spacing methods
improved significantly
Sex Determination
The exposed groups now know of the
law against sex selection Married men and
MILs now understand this better. This
increase in knowledge was also observed
among the married women
Gender Discrimination
It was found that most women still
believe that a man should have the final say in
all the family matters. However this
proportion has significantly decreased among
those who have watched the program. Among
married men watching the program, there was
a shift with a majority agreeing that women
have an equal ability to hold leadership
position in local government.
There was a remarkable shift in the
attitude of married men, women and MILs
from the exposed group with the number of
respondents who were in favour of domestic
violence declining appreciably.
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