|
The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. A. Ramadoss today held day long consultations with the Health Ministers of the 17 states where the Rural Health Mission is to be implemented in the first phase. Addressing the media after the meeting Dr. Ramadoss said that all the Ministers welcomed the new project and agreed to extend full support in its implementation. He said that the Prime Minister will be announcing the scheme later this month once the procedural formalities have been completed. The Health Minister said that they had held a series of consultations with various stakeholders on the Rural Health Mission. His Ministry has also made a presentation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister a few weeks ago. Giving details of the scheme, he said that the focus of the programme will be on the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) who will be situated in the village. She will be “the daughter-in-law of the village and will be paid a remuneration depending on the package of services she delivers. This is a new concept of reaching every village with healthcare. At present, the Minister pointed out that the ANM caters to 4 or 5 villages and is not available at times of emergencies.
The Rural Health Mission is a convergence scheme which will involve other line Ministries in provision of drinking water, sanitation, nutrition, health education. The programme will be monitored through a society in which both the centre and the state representatives will be present. Monitoring would also be done by specialists like Chartered Accounts, Programme Evaluators independently. Dr. Ramadoss said that he had requested the Planning Commission to plead with the states to increase their health expenditure which had steadily come down from the earlier 7 % to 5.5%.
Earlier, addressing the Health Ministers of the North-East States, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. P. Lakshmi said that the Deptt. Of Family Welfare had been holding consultations with the states for the second stage of the Reproductive Child Health Programme. She said that the Mission was an attempt to focus on the integrated health needs of the poor and marginalized sections of society. Speaking on the Mission, she called upon the states to cooperate in planning and implementing the project. She also said that the sates must increase their programme management abilities so that the funds provided are properly utilized. The North-East Health Mission being proposed by the Government is a new form of partnership between the centre and these states. The Minister saw this as an opportunity to plan themselves through flexible funding and also seek sectoral inputs through the Govt. of India.
|
