About SWASTH Programme

SWASTH’s goal is “to improve the health and nutritional status of people in Bihar, particularly the poorest and excluded’, and thereby accelerate the state’s progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Its purpose is “increased use of quality, essential health, nutrition, water and sanitation services especially by poorest people and excluded groups’.  SWASTH will achieve its purpose through the following outputs:

• Increased scale and functionality of nutrition, health and water and sanitation services;
• Community level initiatives undertaken to manage, demand and monitor, services;
• Systems strengthened for improving efficiency and effectiveness;
• Capacity to work with non-government actors enhanced;
• Quality and use of monitoring and evaluation systems improved.

SWASTH is closely aligned with, and complementary to, the Government of India’s (GoI) programmes and policies, namely, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the National Health Policy, the National Nutrition Policy, the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) and the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC).

SWASTH will enable the GoB to take a holistic view of the resources available to tackle health, nutrition, water and sanitation and identify expenditure and reform priorities. Untied funds will allow the government to spend on key areas that are not supported through national government schemes. Sector Budget Support (SBS) is flexible and thus designed to take account of evolving programmes and policies as well. Technical assistance will support analysis of key constraints, improve systems and capacities so that all available resources can be used most effectively.