Panel spikes government’s rural healthcare plan

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The government’s plan to create a new cadre of trained individuals to provide basic healthcare in villages has received a setback with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health rejecting the proposal.

Instead, the panel suggested one year compulsory rural posting for fresh MBBS graduates, a move already tried by the Health Ministry without success.

To cater to the vast expanse of rural India, being largely served by quacks, the Health Ministry had proposed to create a new cadre of community health workers for running village sub-centres and providing primary health care. The new cadre of professionals are to be known as community health workers who have to clear a three-and-a-half-year BSc programme on community health.

The House panel took the controversial issue suo motu and after hearing a number of experts asked the government not to go ahead with it.

Source: Deccan Herald (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
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public health