Health and Nutrition – Inner Pages

Aims & Objectives: This review examined the effectiveness of PACS interventions on awareness, enrolment and utilization of RSBY scheme in targeted poorest performing and backward districts across  Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Methodology: It selected two districts from each state with PACS interventions and two without PACS intervention to compare the key outcomes. A mixed methods approach was adopted for a designing a treatment-control analysis. All over 1300 households from Jharkhand and 725 from West Bengal were covered.

Findings: Its findings are:

• Substantial gap in overall awareness about the scheme. Compared to non-intervention districts, knowledge about six different components of RSBY scheme in intervention districts is higher, particularly in Jharkhand;
• Higher reach of mass media campaigns regarding RSBY scheme among marginalized sections of the population in intervention districts vis-à-vis non-intervention districts;
• PACS led initiative is especially successful in bringing families to the health facility and subsequent use of RSBY card for hospitalization leading to the reduction in health expenditure of households. SCs/STs and the poor have started utilizing this scheme;
• PACS led intervention functions as an instrument in unlocking community potential while involving different stokeholds including PRI members, local leaders and community workers and
• Clear pattern of increased awareness, enrolment and utilization of RSBY scheme in intervention districts in Jharkhand compared to West Bengal. Awareness of the RSBY scheme and its benefits has increased in last few years due to the intervention.