National Rural Health Mission is a Fiasco According to Public Accounts Committee

In a report to the Parliament, The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has described the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) as a fiasco and has requested for complete restructuring of the project.

The government spends merely 1.1% of the GDP on public health. Chief of PAC, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi described the NRHM scheme merely as a joke since the per capita expenditure on public health is jus 7 US dollars in India. The report states that health centers where NRHM is being implemented are being used as warehouses for storing food grains or as community halls, local offices or cattle sheds. Substandard and expired medicines are being supplied to health centers. Even common medicines were not available at health centers. In many of the health centers there was a lack of trained health workers. 11% PHC's functioned without an allopathic doctor, while 86% did not have ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha or homeopathy doctor. 69 PHC's did not have any doctor.

The PHCs (public health centers) and CHCs (community health centers) were functioning in unhygienic conditions and lacked basic essentials like water supply, sewage disposal facilities, facilities for biomedical waste disposal and separate utilities for men and women.

Source: Medindia