Enhancing Services of Panchayat Raj in Public Health
Author: Ramaiah Bheenaveni
Enhancing Services of Panchayat Raj in Public Health
* Ramaiah Bheenaveni
Panchayats in India are an age old institution for governance at village level. In 1992, through the enactment of the 73rd Constitutional
Amendment, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) were strengthened as local government organizations with clear areas of jurisdiction,
adequate power, authority and funds commensurate with responsibilities.
Panchayats have been assigned 29 rural development activities, including several, which are related to health and population
stabilization. The XI schedule includes Family Welfare, Health and Sanitation, (including hospitals, primary health centers, and
dispensaries,) and the XII schedule includes Public Health.
“Thus the possible realm of influence of the Panchayats extends over a significant proportion of public health issues. The Gram
Sabha, where empowered has the potential to act as a community level accountability mechanism to ensure that the functions of the
village Panchayat in the area of public health and family welfare, actually respond to people’s needsâ€.
The 73rd Constitutional Amendment makes it mandatory that functions related to the provision of primary health care - maternal health
and family welfare are the responsibility of the PRIs. Besides the various development sector departments come under the functional
jurisdiction of the district panchayat. Creating a health system with the panchayats being made responsible for supervising and
monitoring health services seems an ideal model.
The National Health Policy, 2001, also emphasizes implementation of public health programmes through local self-government
institutions, especially relating to the national disease control programmes. The Planning Commission set up a Task Force to review PRI
involvement in various sectors and to make recommendations on engagement of PRIs specific to each sector. A Task Force Report
pertaining to five major programmes withi