The Hindu : National : Rural Health Mission to be evaluated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006

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National

Rural Health Mission to be evaluated

Special Correspondent

Health Ministry trying to identify local capacities to judge scheme

NEW DELHI: Several independent agencies will undertake a concurrent assessment of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), launched by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry. The Ministry has tied up with the Institute of Public Auditors of India to assess the reach of the mission, launched in April 2005. The Institute has performed similar assessments for the Centre's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and other social sector initiatives. It will submit its report in three months.

The Institute will carry out the survey in five States — Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu — choosing one district from each state.

While Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are considered among the low performing states, Tamil Nadu has reportedly done well in implementing the mission. The idea behind including Tamil Nadu for the survey is to learn from its model, Ministry sources said.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will also assess the mission concurrently, but its work will be confined to the functioning of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), who are an indispensable component of the NRHM and Janani Suraksha Yojana. The Ministry has commissioned the services of the UNFPA in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand following criticism that recruitment of ASHAs had been unsatisfactory, even two years into implementing the mission.

Slated to submit its report in two months, the UNFPA will assess the adherence to guidelines while recruiting ASHAs, quality of their training, study the role of Panchayati Raj institutions, non-governmental organisations and SHGs in supporting the mission, gauge job satisfaction of ASHAs vis-à-vis delivery of the scheme and also map the community and beneficiary perception about the scheme.

According to the Ministry sources, the States are close to reaching the target of appointing 2.5 lakh ASHAs in the 18 high-focus states.

However, the number is likely to cross four lakh, based on the demand for health workers.

. The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry is also trying to identify local capacities to gauge the success of the NRHM. The Ministry has obtained a list of the existing NGOs in 35 states.

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