NRHM - the panacea for rural health in India: a critique

There has been news of the Central Government’s flag ship rural health care scheme - National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) being given an extension till 2015; albeit there is little talk of what we have learned from the experiences of NRHM till now so as to remove the bottle necks in its implementation. After seven years of implementation NRHM has failed to achieve its stated objectives. This calls for a scrutiny of this failure. This article analyzes fundamental conceptual dilemmas inherent to the Mission to draw lessons for future. The most important lesson that ought to be learnt is that ‘the health of the people is not a standalone phenomenon that can be improved through healthcare alone. It requires a comprehensive action plan encompassing food security, employment and poverty alleviation as well.