Collective responsibility: The perceptions, expectations and realities of ngo and private hospitals in national rural health mission (NRHM) in Karnataka

Quality health care has become major and vital indicator of social inclusion. Poor rural health condition has drawn increasing international attention and condemnation since 1970s. The denigration of the public sector in health care in India is often a misplaced basis of underfunded, under and untrained staff, excessive centralization, lack of accountability and rigid arrangement for public delivery in rural areas. Providing health care to the disadvantaged sections of the society has become a challenged task before any government, rather than just medical care, health is a vital component in every social development programmes. Today every government is intended to bring many health programmes with the help of NGOs and the private hospitals. Human resources and capacity within the department are limited particularly in the high priority districts and NGOs could bring in additional human resources, especially in the areas where community involvement is required. This article is based on the field work done in the selected dist of Karnataka.