Administration of Primary Health Centres in India

As A Signatory To The Aima Ata Declaration India Is Committed To -Provide Health For All By 2000 A.D.’ Accordingly Since 1985 A Large Number Of Additional Rural Health Institutions Have Come Into Existence In Various States. By 1992, 20, 847 Primary Health Centres, 1,30,782 Subcentres And 2060 Community Health Centres Have Come To Be Established In Rural India. However The Resources Provided For The Centres Both Human And Material Are Grossly Inadequate For Them To Provide Even A Fraction Of The Service Needed. Doctors Are Reluctant To Work In Rural Areas. Drugs Are In Short Supply And Often Not Of Good Quality. Equipment Is Not Properly Maintained. There Is Undue Stress On The Curative Aspect To The Neglect Of The Preventive And Primitive Aspects Of Health. Indian Medicine Does Not Receive The Importance If Deserves As Compared To The Allopathic System. There Is Preference To Costly Allopathic Drugs And Simple Household Remedies Are Neglected. There Is A Strong Case For Vigorous Research In Ethnopharmacology To Discover The Scientific Basis For Traditional Drugs. People’s Participation In Rural Health Programmes Is Marginal. Rural Local Bodies Are Not Actively Associated With Management Of Health Services. The Scheme Of Village Health Guides Has Not Provide Effective. The Present Volume, Based On Empirical Field Study Of Rural Health Services, Reveals Some Of The Deficiencies Of The System Such As Those Mentioned Above. If They Are Not Urgently Rectified, It Would Take Another 50 Years For The Country To Provide ‘Health For All’ Its Citizens. 

Professor S.P. Ranga Rao (b. 1932) took his B.Sc. degree (1952) from the Andhra University and M.A. Public Administration (1956) and LL.B. (1957) degrees from the Nagpur University. He was awarded Ph.D. in Public Administration (1971) by the Osmania University. He retired as Professor of Public Administration (1992) from the Osmania University after 33 years of service, where he was earlier the Head of the Dept. and Chairman, Board of Studies in Public Administration. Professor Ranga Rao was themember of the Editorial Board of the Indian Journal of Public Administration and also a Member of the Academic Committee of the Indian Institute of Public Administration. During the course of his long career he was associated with the academic work of 22 Indian Universities. His Research articles were published in all the leading journals of the country. Professor Ranga Rao was the Co-Editor of Crisis Administration in India, and Professionalism in Public Administration. He was also the author/Editor of eight other books including six text books sponsored by the Andhra Pradesh Telugu Academy.