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Case Study

Chirag

Rs. 4,495,798 awarded over two years to Central Himalayan Rural Action Group (Chirag)

The Central Himalayan Rural Action Group, popularly known by the acronym Chirag, works on social development and livelihood issues in the mountainous Kumaon region of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. One of its activities was running a hospital that served the community’s health requirements in a remote area with little access to trained medical care.

With the advent of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), a flagship government programme that recognised India’s deplorable health indicators and aimed to make the public health system accessible, Chirag decided to enhance its role. With support from PHF, it took on the task of forming and training the community institutions formed under NRHM, such as Village Health and Sanitation Committees (VHSCs) and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in 20 villages. It also enabled effective community monitoring of the public health system.

A recent review of Chirag’s work, conducted three years after the project began, indicates significant progress. The community institutions formed are vibrant and effective, and the public health system’s accountability to the community has increased. The review suggests that the work should continue at a larger scale to make a difference to the ‘big picture’, and that advocacy efforts with the state health department are needed to ensure that health functionaries’ behaviour changes in places other than the project villages.

The Foundation is currently looking into the possibility of continued support.