Defence panel

“Timely completion of critical design and development, research and development, and other capital projects is a highpriority area for the ministry to achieve the desired operational preparedness and to effectively contribute to Make in India and Skill India programmes,” reads the letter, adding that the Raksha Mantri (defence minister) has approved the constitution of a capital projects review committee with 11 members and two special invitees.

While the letter clearly states that Oberoi is the chairman of the review committee, the former bureaucrat who was the higher education secretary, said he was not heading the panel. “I never was. You better ask them [the defence ministry]. I have been out of the country,” he said on Wednesday when asked why the committee had not met yet.

Oberoi was higher education secretary in July when a political controversy broke out over the ‘Institute of Excellence’ status being conferred to the proposed Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation. Union minister Prakash Javadekar clarified in Parliament in July “only a Letter of Intent” was issued to Jio Institute, which was among three private sector institutions selected by the government for the IOE category.

Two of the four officials cited above suggested that the ministry may have put the committee on the back burner because of the controversy. Asked if it had anything to do with the IOE controversy, Oberoi said, “No, no… it has nothing to do with that. I know of a press release about the committee but I have no communication that I will be heading it.”

Experts say the panel would have served an important role. “It seemed like a great idea to have such a panel. Members must be carefully selected and known for their ability to deliver. It is unfortunate that this panel could not make any difference,” said military affairs expert Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).

The defence ministry first announced the 13-member Raksha Mantri’s Advisory Committee on Ministry of Defence Capital Projects in February, but it was approved only on July 23 with 11 members and two special invitees (instead of 13 members.) The special invitees are from private consultancy firms, KPMG and Ernst & Young.

According to a government statement issued on February 7, when t he committee was announced, the panel’s terms of reference included undertaking “independent review and status check” of critical ongoing capital projects worth more than ~500 crore.

The panel was also tasked with assessing the “physical and financial progress” of the programmes reviewed by it, apart from identifying reasons causing delay and recommending the way forward. medicines, including “appropriate” traditional medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other technologies to improve access to health while “protecting personal data.”

Primary health centres must provide a comprehensive range of services and care, “including but not limited to vaccination,” said the declaration, which marks a move away from targeted health programmes that work in silos to an integrated health approach.

“The resurgence of global commitment to comprehensive primary health care resonates well with India’s National Health Policy of 2017. The high priority accorded to Health and Wellness Centres opens the pathway to universally accessible, integrated, continuous care,” said K Srinath Reddy, the president at Public Health Foundation of India. India, which was represented by Union health minister JP Nadda at Astana, has already made a start with the launch of health and wellness centres under Ayushman Bharat that offer health promotion, and disease prevention and management at the community level.

“The role of non-physician health care providers, especially technology-enabled community health workers and mid-level care providers, is pivotal for the success of primary health care as envisioned at Astana. India has to prioritise this investment in health workforce to achieve the health targets of the sustainable development goals (SDGS),” said Dr Reddy.

Strong primary health care, rooted in community participation, builds resilience against new and existing diseases and helps governments to respond to evolving health needs, demographics, environmental challenges, and emergencies to improve outcomes and well-being at lower costs.

For the first time, a health declaration acknowledged the need to “create decent work and appropriate compensation for health workers” working at the primary health care level and invest in the education, training, recruitment, development, motivation and retention of the workforce, with an appropriate skill mix.

With around 80% of India’s 1.04 million registered doctors of modern medicine (allopathic) working to serve 31% of the country’s population, these CHOS will help meet the shortfall of doctors in under-served areas where the allopathic doctor-patient ratio is 1:11,082, against the Who-recommended ratio of 1:1,000.

Astana declaration urges nations to increase investments in human, technological, financial and information resources in primary health care to ensure health services and continuum of care reach everyone who needs them. It said countries must strive to provide primary health care workforce in rural, remote and less developed areas, and not allow international migration of health workers.

“The Astana declaration will set new directions for the development of primary health care as a basis of health care systems and urge countries, people, communities, health care systems and partners to achieve healthier lives through sustainable primary health care,” said Bakytzhan Sagintayev, the prime minister of Kazakhstan, which co-hosted the conference.

Sujatha Rao, former health secretary of Union ministry of health and family welfare, said, “It’s timely as the one thing that is clearly emerging is primary health care is the foundation of a health system. If the foundation is weak, how can any structures, no matter how grandly designed, stand?”’

Henrietta Fore, executive director at Unicef, said, “We have the commitment, now we need concrete action and results.”