National rural health mission a comparative study of district Ropar and district Mohali Punjab

Abstract

NRHM is an overarching endeavour of the central government which encompasses a wide array of health interventions under a single umbrella and aims to provide quality health care to the rural population. It s an exploratory cum descriptive study, which attempts to draw a comparative analysis of the healthcare scenario between the two districts (Ropar and Mohali) of Punjab. As the occurrence of maternal and child health adversities are very high in India, Punjab, a Non-high focus state has been selected which has better health indicators as compared to the High focus states. The primary data was collected via structured interview schedules and observation checklists. General observations were made with regard to the State for various services under NRHM. The study witnessed the success of maternal health scheme i.e. Janani Suraksha Yojana and some of the crucial areas in child health in terms of increased institutional deliveries, selection of appropriate health centre for delivery, neonatal care and uptake of immunization doses, with the active support of community health workers (ASHA). The latter played the role of a significant catalyst and provided regular feedback to health officials on rural health needs. The availability of sufficient human resources with adequate intercommunication between them facilitated the execution of health schemes. However, the inadequate availability of infrastructure and medicines affected the health services at different type of health centres. The overall scenario of NRHM in Punjab exhibits a tidy picture for maternal health services, child health services and the role of ASHA in facilitating healthcare. newline