From the archive record
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is an Indian health program for improving health care delivery across rural India. The mission, initially mooted for 7 years (2005-2012), is run by the Ministry of Health. The scheme proposes a number of new mechanism for healthcare delivery including training local residents as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA),[1] and the Janani Surakshay Yojana (motherhood protection program). It also aims at improving hygiene and sanitation infrastructure. Noted economists Ajay Mahal and Bibek Debroy have called it "the most ambitious rural health initiative ever". The mission has a special focus on 18 states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, O