CLICS DOOT (VILLAGE HEALTH WORKER) - Nipccd

CLICS DOOT (VILLAGE HEALTH WORKER)
Village Health Worker (VHW) is emerging as a key health worker to effectively and
affordably run a Community Based Health Care Programme in many developing
countries. The VHW should be selected by the community, ideally trained in the
community, live in the community, serve the community and primarily belong to the
community and not to the project or to the government.
In CLICS Program, VHW or ‘CLICS doot’ are community-based workers identified by
the Village Coordination Committee and they serve as the central point for delivery of
services and information at the household level. She reports to the Village
Coordination Committee. She also builds rapport with villagers, SHGs, VCC and the
Gram Panchayat and other village level organizations. Currently there are 88 CLICS
doots, one for every 1000 population in the program area.
The criteria for selection of CLICS doot includes: i) resident of the same village; ii)
married woman who preferably have completed her family; iii) minimum 7 years of
education; and iv) willingness to volunteer at least 2 hours of time daily to carry out her
responsibilities as CLICS doot. The program assists the VCCs to identify candidates
with the necessary skills. Initially, the Village Coordination Committee suggests five
names for the CLICS doot for the village. After screening by Community Organizer,
three candidates out of the five are invited in a selection workshop. In the selection
workshop, they are tested for various skills and finally based on their score in the
selection workshop, one candidate is selected to join as CLICS doot and the second
candidate is kept on waiting.
CLICS doot, thus selected were trained for treatment of minor ailments, behavior change
communication and record keeping. Their training also included training on ‘Integrated
Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses’ program have been conducted for the
The job responsibilities of the CLICS doot include:
1) To provide home visits to children: five home visits to all the neonates as per the
IMNCI guidelines; once a month home visit to children below 3 years; fortnightly
visit to children with severe malnutrition
2) To participate in Community Health Clinic, Bal Suraksha Diwas and various
campaigns at village level
3) To work as depot holders
4) To provide treatment for minor ailments
5) To provide referral services
6) To provide health education to individuals and to groups
7) To record vital events at village level
8) To maintain village level health records
The VHWs get an honorarium of INR 300 per month. This amount has been fixed taking
sustainability into account. It is felt that payment of higher honorarium may pose
difficulty for the VCCs and a lower honorarium might not sustain the VHWs interest.

During the initial period, the payments are being done by the program. However, it is
envisaged that from the third year onwards the VCC will find out an alternate mechanism
for remuneration of the CLICS doot. The contribution of the VCCs will be scaled up
gradually to the point where the VCC is able to sustain the CLICS doot after the program
funding stops. It is anticipated that VHW could also generate her own income by
charging a service fee under the respective VCC's supervision.
There are several cases where timely referral and care have saved lives of children and
mothers and eased problems of the villagers.