The state edition of Kayakalp Award ceremony held last Friday in Naharlagun has shown once again how an apparently miniscule strategy can prove to be enormously impactful and inspirational when it comes to delivery of public services.

The spirit and intention or the idea behind devising this award can be understood only if evaluated in the context of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). We can recall that when our Prime Minister gave a call for Swachh Bharat in October 2014, the sanitation infrastructure in the country was inadequate. Millions of people defecated in open and effective waste management was an almost alien concept and maintaining cleanliness occupied little or no priority in our society. The picture was not very different in our public health delivery channels. To mitigate this in particular and to aptly supplement the efforts to reach the larger goals of SBM, Kayakalp Award was instituted in May 2015 as a national initiative to reward those public health facilities that demonstrate high levels of cleanliness, hygiene and infection control.

And till now, proving detractors wrong Kayakalp has proved to be an accomplished partner of SBM. Incorporating a three tier professional and unbiased assessment mechanism to evaluate the parameters of sanitation and hygiene, infection control, hospital upkeep, waste management and community participation, it has within short period of its inception, proved its trustworthiness.

Now at this juncture a question may arise as to why these kind of awards are at all necessary to attain our developmental objectives? Here we have to rely on general observations to arrive at a logical conclusion. It has been considered by psychologists and academia from branches of social sciences that the element of recognition is an essential part of human psyche. It’s the inherent tendency of most human beings to clamour for cognizance of their endeavours, be it in any field. And we are a part of society where there is almost a sea of awards. If an alien were to look at the social life of people here on earth, it would be stunned by the enormous number of awards in the form of orders, medals, prizes, titles and so on. It will thus be sensible to admit that awards do create and establish role models and paradigm precedents for posterity to emulate.

And given the ‘shabbiness’ which sadly defined our public health delivery apparatus over decades, this attempt is ingenious and has proved to be effective, as of now. Kayakalp has added the badly needed zeal missing from our hospitals and now their collective efforts in improving hygiene and other intrinsically linked aspects have proved instrumental in gaining the lost trust.

Given the efficacy it has displayed, it should continue unabated and tried for emulation in other spheres too.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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