The term Panchayats implies the assembly of five wise people. In India the Panchayat has been an age-old institution for governance at village level. As per the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, PRI also known as the Panchayati Raj Institutions were strengthened with more areas of jurisdiction and authority and funds. These PRI's had also been assigned the task of several development activities like health and population stabilization in the rural areas. The Panchayat is one of the most vital authorities that are responsible for the health and sanitation areas of the villages. These Panchayats also have the Gram Sabha, which acts as a community level accountability mechanism. This also ensures that the functions of the PRI respond to people's needs and their needs are taken care of.
But over the years it had been seen that the progress of the PRI had been uneven across states and various vital issues like fiscal devolution and the lack of institutional modalities were at stake. Also there were no clear guidelines on PRI participation and variable capacity among PRI. As per the National Rural Health Mission, the constitution of Village Health and Sanitation Committees was provided with major interventions, which also included the responsibilities of the Village Health and Sanitation Committees. These committees had been assigned the task of conducting household surveys, health camps, sanitation drives, etc. so that the current scenario in these areas could be analyzed. Also the Government of India indicates that that at least 50% women members should be there in the Village Health and Sanitation Committees. These would include members from the SC/ST groups, Gram Panchayat women members, vulnerable groups, self help groups, mahila samakhya representatives and other members also.
The government has been taking a lot of initiatives and measures to improvise the health and sanitation facilities in the rural villages and the Panchayat has played a significant role in improving these facilities in the village areas. All the Village Health and Sanitation Committee are provided an untied grant per year, for conducting household surveys, sanitation drives, chlorination of drinking water sources, regular cleaning, preparing village health plans, organizing health camps and internal painting of the protected water overhead reservoirs. The government has also suggested that the population under each Village Health and Sanitation Committee should be restricted to 1250 to 1500 so that implementation of these resources can be the best. Along with the regular health and sanitation care, women's health has also been a major concern.
|
