visit to Haridwar

Am off on Monday to the holy city of Haridwar on work.

To document the second year of the voucher scheme - a PPP that our organization had piloted to improve the health indicators of two blocks in the district of Haridwar. The scheme entails that a beneficiary (ideally, a BPL or below poverty line individual/family) is handed vouchers which s/he can use to get medical services (in this case, antenatal care, delivery, postnatal care and family planning) at private health facilities, free of cost.

The service providers are reimbursed for the services rendered by the State government as well as through funds from our donor. Again, the ASHA plays a significant role as a motivator and outreach worker...it has really caught on fairly well and the goal is to scale it up across the state of Utttarakhand and in other states too.

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Since I have never visited Haridwar before, I hope to catch the famous evening 'aarti' (a Hindu community worship ritual with lights and chants and flowers) by the banks of the river Ganges/Ganga. The Ganga is highly revered in India, more so amongst Hindus. I hope to pay my respects to her. :)

Peace.