Swasth Panchayat Scheme: Handholding Panchayats for Improving ...

Panchayats in a block is entered. Next step in these blocks/panchayats is to initiate healthplanning process based on this data.Before we initiated the status assessment, massive mobilisation of PRIs have been done in theform of 'Sarpanch/panch Sammelans' (Events in honour of PRI heads) and then village levelorientation was done of active women groups, youth groups and other active individuals withinthe GPs other than the Mitanins in all these blocks/panchayats.One more major point to make is about the Chief Minister's special scheme called SWASTHPANCHAYAT PRATIYOGITA (Healthy Panchayat Competition). This is helping us towardsensuring active role and participation of Panchayats in looking at their health status as part ofthe scheme. We have got an allocation of INR 79 lacs from the state budget from this towardsgiving awards of INR 10000 to the GP ranking top and INR 5000 to the GP performing next inall 146 development blocks. Rest of the allocation shall be used to provide special allocationsfor those GPs emerging as weak as well as for successful implementation of the scheme. Toimplement this scheme so as to award best Panchayats on 26 January 2007, we are going for acampaign approach to collect and validate data on each indicators of all GPs of the state in thecoming December.To say something on the exact impact of the programme, this has developed a different outlookon health at the Panchayat level and almost all Panchayats are into health planning now. Manyof the key health issues that were not addressed seriously earlier at the Panchayat level havenow been started to be attended by our elected representatives wherever this initiative hastaken place. One more major achievement is the working together of number of departments atthe district level. We are into the processes of ensuring this at the state level also. However, theexact impact can be presented after one or two years where we shall be having the baseline aswell as current status of health in these Panchayats.We are sure that this initiative has a potential to leverage change in local governancecountrywide, not only in health. Of course we should supplement it with the practical as wellas technical inputs that are needed to initiate plan as well as implementation at each stage.