RECOMMENDATIONS
OF 3RD MEETING OF EAG STATES ON POPULATION STABILIZATION
100
PERCENT INCREASE OF FUNDS OVER LAST YEAR
The Empowered Action Group (EAG) of the Department
of Family Welfare met yesterday under the Chairmanship of Union
Health and Family Welfare Minister Shri Shatrughan Sinha and outlined
the priorities for close monitoring of family welfare and reproductive
child health programmes. The Minister impressed upon the eight
EAG States to ensure a drastic reduction in Total Fertility Rate,
Maternal and Infant Mortality by the year 2010. He said that the
basic objective of this group is to provide focus to the family
welfare programmes and achieve population stabilization by 2010.
The EAG is a high level inter-sectoral group consisting of Central
Government Ministries, eminent NGO’s, researchers and the State
Health Secretaries of Orissa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
The State Health Secretaries made presentations of
the Action Plan drawn up for their states for 2002-2003 to improve
the infrastructure and provide RCH services to eligible couples
in their States. The EAG agreed in principle to support the various
action plans presented by the States amounting to approximately
Rs 400 crore indicating 100 percent increase to the amounts that
was released to them during the last financial year. It was also
decided that funds would be released in one consolidated order
which would cut short approval procedures and streamline the procedures.
The State Health Secretaries sought the approval of the Government
for helping strengthen the basic health infrastructure at the
Primary Health Care level, such as filling up of vacant post of
doctors and para- medical staff, construction and renovation sub-
centres, community and social mobilization etc.
Summing up the discussions, Secretary (Family Welfare)
Shri J.V.R.Prasada Rao, requested that the States give highest
priority to the following aspects that have a direct bearing on
achievement of their demographic goals. On the Family Planning
side, filling up of ANM and additional ANM vacancies, rationalisation
of ANM registers to only four, identification of eligible couples
having three or more children for terminal methods in every sub
centre, district and sub-district hospitals to have fixed day
for family planning clinics, promotion of IUDs by ANMs, etc. On
the Reproductive Child Health(RCH) side the priorities include
earmarking of immunisation day village wise once a month, one
trained birth attendant in every village and allotment of SHCs
and PHCs to NGOs and private sector where public health system
is not functioning.
