Context:
Recently, NITI Aayog and Piramal Foundation launched ‘Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyan’ in 112 aspirational districts to assist the administration in providing home care support to Covid-19 patients, who are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.
Relevance:
GS-II: Social Justice (Issues related to Health, Government Policies & Interventions)
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Aspirational Districts Programme
- ‘Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyan’
About Aspirational Districts Programme
- Aspirational Districts are those districts in India, that are affected by poor socio-economic indicators.
- These are aspirational in the context, that improvement in these districts can lead to the overall improvement in human development in India.
- At the Government of India level, the programme is anchored by NITI Aayog. In addition, individual Ministries have assumed responsibility to drive the progress of districts.
- The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts.
- Aspirational Districts’ programme (ADP) is based on 49 indicators from the 5 identified thematic areas, which focuses closely on improving people’s Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure.
- With States as the main drivers, ADP seeks to focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.
- There are 115 districts identified from 28 states as Aspirational Districts, at least one from each state.
‘Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyan’
- The ‘Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyan’ campaign is under a special initiative – Aspirational Districts Collaborative – in which local leaders, civil societies and volunteers will work with the district administrations to address emerging issues across key focus areas of the Aspirational Districts Programme.
- It will be led by district magistrates in partnership with over 1000 local NGOs, which will enlist and train over 1 lakh volunteers to connect with patients through inbound/outbound calls.
- Volunteers will be trained to support 20 affected families each by educating caretakers to follow protocols, provide psycho-social support and timely updates about patients to the administration.
- The campaign is expected to play a key role in district preparedness for managing nearly 70% of Covid-19 cases at home, reducing pressure on the health system, and stemming the spread of fear amongst the people.
- It will provide long-term support to India’s poorest communities in the Aspirational Districts by addressing the lasting impact of Covid-19.
-Source: The Hindu
