Health Policy Issues and Health Programmes in ... - Amazon S3

Sanitation and Public Health Issues with Reference to UttaranchalSession 6Sanitation and Public Health Issueswith Reference to UttaranchalJayant Keshav Natu, Director, The Swajal Project, DehradunIntroductionThe government of Uttaranchal, with World Bank assistance, is implementingan integrated rural water supply and environmental sanitation project in 848villages in 12 districts of the state. These villages have been selected on thebasis of transparent criteria such as demand, need, technical factors, and soforth. There are four batches consisting of 69, 154, 199, and 394 villages. Thereis also an experimental batch 3x (Panchayati Raj institution [PRI]) thatincludes 32 villages. Short-listed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) actas support organizations to assist village communities in the planning andconstruction of water supply and environmental sanitation schemes. Onlysingle village schemes have been undertaken.The project cycle lasts 33 months, with each batch of villages overlapping theother. The project cycle has three distinct phases—(1) pre-planning, (2)planning, and (3) implementation. In the pre-planning phase, the villages andsupport organizations are selected on the basis of predetermined, transparentcriteria. In the planning phase, community action plans are created thatensure the participation of communities in the project process. Communityupfront and cash contributions are also collected in this phase. All of the mainconstruction activities are executed in the implementation phase.Project Objectivesl To deliver sustainable health and hygiene benefits to the rural populationthrough improvement in water supply and environmental sanitationservices, which will increase rural incomes through time savings andincome opportunities for women, test an alternative to the current supplydrivenservice delivery mechanism, and promote sanitation and generalawarenessl To promote the long-term sustainability of the rural water supply andsanitation sector by providing assistance to state governments foridentifying and implementing an appropriate policy framework andstrategic plan.228