*UGC-JRF Scholar, Department of Applied Economics, Kannur University, Kerala, India
**Professor and Head, Department of Applied Economics, Kannur University, Kerala, India
Online published on 12 January, 2017.
Decentralization is regarded as an important administrative reform all over the world, which transferred power to the lower levels of Government. Being second largest democratic country in the world, its wave was reflected in the arena of Indian democracy. Decentralization of health services has great fortune as it is better to take health related decisions at regional level. The state of Kerala lying in the south-west part of the federal polity of India has been witnessing successful decentralized governance with social sector development, which is unique compared to other Indian state. This has been due to the fact that the state has followed a different development path and rapid stride have been made in extending the major public good, health. The present paper is a microscopic attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of fiscal decentralization on health sector development in rural Kerala. The study found out that allocation and utilization of fund for health sector development by Panchayat need to be improved. Moreover the study also suggested imparting of well defined guidelines for sub-sector utilization of funds for a smooth delivery of primary health care services.
Decentralization, health sector, panchayat, primary health care, resource allocation, grama sabha participation, palliative care
