Boosting primary healthcare crucial to achieving universal health coverage: Experts at Centre for Public Policy panel discussion
Practitioners and administrators recommend more community involvement during session on ‘Pathways from Primary Health Care to Universal Health Care’
20 August, 2025, Bengaluru: The second day of the XX International Conference on Public Policy & Management, being hosted by the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) from 19 to 21 August 2025 at IIM Bangalore, opened with a panel discussion on, ‘Pathways from Primary Health Care to Universal Health Care’. The annual CPP Conference on Public Policy and Management is an interdisciplinary conference which draws scholars representing diverse perspectives on public policy issues and provides a forum for showcasing the latest developments in policy research and practice.
The theme for this year’s CPP Conference is ‘Rethinking State Capacity in Delivering Public Policy’, and the event features research papers and practitioner case studies tackling issues contributing to an ongoing corpus of literature in and around State Capacity in delivering Public Policy. There were 170 submissions received for the conference this year, out of which 60 papers have been selected for presentation. For more details, please visit: https://www.iimb.ac.in/cpp-xx-2025/.
Primary Healthcare and its Impact on Universal Health Coverage
The panel discussion featured Prof. Arnab Mukherji, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM) and faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB; Ms Akay Minz, State Programme Coordinator, National Health Mission, Government of Jharkhand; Dr. Kamlesh Kumar, Director cum State Nodal for CP-CPHC, Government of Jharkhand, and Sri D. Randeep, Secretary to Government, Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka. Dr. N. S. Prashanth, Director, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, moderated the session.
Introducing the session, Prof. Arnab Mukherji shared that the panel discussion would revolve around health, specifically primary health, with the help of research findings from the states of Jharkhand and Karnataka, two diverse states in terms of economics as well as how the health system has evolved in dealing with state-specific challenges. His talk was based on the research project PHC4UHC, which he said is anchored by IIMB, along with teams from Institute of Public Health and the NGO Ekjut, Jharkhand.
Explaining district level PHC Inputs Index and UHC Outcomes Index, he said, “Every state has a unique health system and the research investigates the correlation to see how PHC is affecting UHC in these two different state ecosystems. Looking at different districts in the two states, we have used population level survey data to determine where they stand in terms of delivering healthcare. The indicators include PHC Input Domains like Performance, Quality, Capacity, Health Financing and Access, and WB/WHO UHC Domains like Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (RMNCH), Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), Service Capacity and Access (SCA), and Financial Risk Protection (FRP). The focus is on performance indicators, quality of primary healthcare indicators, capacity of districts in giving out PHC, health financing and access to primary health variables. The high and lows of PHC and UHC for the districts have been determined.”
He went on to discuss the research findings and their significance. “The studies show that while Jharkhand has several districts trapped in low PHC inputs and low UHC outcomes, Karnataka displays a mixed pattern with many districts achieving high UHC outcomes despite low PHC inputs, reflecting difference in state capacity, health system efficiency and governance. There is a positive relationship between all domains of the PHC Inputs Index and the UHC Outcomes Index, and consistent upward trend for both states. This suggests that stronger PHC inputs are generally associated with better UHC outcomes. Such data will help District Collectors, who anchor different government departments and schemes, in forming a perspective on how to invest time, resources, etc. to try and move the district higher up on UHC, looking at schemes which are directed towards PHC.”
Ms Akay Minz, recipient of the Covid Warrior National Award, has been committed to infusing deep community engagement into the state health system. She said, “When you work with the community, you have to think out-of-the-box. If you want sustainability and ownership, you need to strengthen the community grassroot institution. We achieved this by partnering with ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, Ekjut NGO, etc. ASHA workers became more empowered with leadership and convincing capabilities, we made women aware that health is their own subject and not a state subject, the Ministry recognized our learnings and the resultant transformation, the NHM team supported us, the quality enhanced, PLA meetings were held across the state and now even the elderly and adolescents are involved in various activities for social upliftment.”
Dr. Kamlesh Kumar said that to understand PHC delivery in our country, we need to first understand India and assess its burden, challenges, resources and then the way forward. “Over the years, India has tackled communicable and non-communicable diseases very effectively with the existing workforce, and mortality rates have come down. However, in several places in Jharkhand, because of the existence of uranium and other mines, the population comes in constant contact with harmful substances. Moreover, the approach of primitive tribes to health related issues is far from satisfactory. To deal with this, we have selected ASHA workers from primitive tribe groups. We need to actually devise strategies keeping all this in mind – the same strategy will not work in all locations. Despite the various challenges, the Ayushman Arogya Mandir implementation has also taken off very well, with an expanded package of services including insurance, the CBACK form for early detection, the new cadre of community health officers, and more. It is an amazingly designed programmed rolled out nationwide, but the big challenge remains as to making primary healthcare available at the grassroots across a diverse country like India.”
Sri D. Randeep, who has been the Commissioner of Health in Karnataka, now heading tribal welfare, discussed challenges in improving intersectoral coordination for PHC and health, and measures to overcome such challenges. “Health is a state subject and it is a challenging exercise to structure a program uniformly across the country. Different states need their own unique measures and implementation at the ground level. This is where supplementary methods like PLA programs, tribal health navigator, etc. come into effect. Supportive structures help us bypass challenges like geographical limitation, economic access, caste discrimination and other socio economic factors, and help us deliver a huge gamut of health schemes. The Karnataka government focused on tribal health navigator. Simply having a resource from the tribal community itself had a tremendous impact on reaching out to certain communities as members gained more trust and availed more preventive checks. Having experienced success with such measures in districts like Chamarajanagar, the state government is now keen on extending the same to more tribal dominated districts. Boosting PHC needs a convergent approach, in depth analysis, taking ground level feedback and local inputs on their perceived needs, assessing micro and macro indicators and then devising a system that can deliver on the ground. It is better that we do preventive health screening and provide access to vulnerable communities to be better prepared for the future.”
Dr. N. S. Prashanth summed up the key takeaways from the panel discussion adding, “Today’s session provided various deep insights, including, how in Jharkhand, not just women but men, the elderly and adolescents too, have been involved in a participatory learning space, which is created and owned by remote communities. This session hosted by IIM Bangalore and the Centre for Public Policy, involving practitioners and administrators – people who are deeply embedded in a complex system – will help create learnings to improve outcomes for the people.”
Case studies linking PHC inputs to UHC outcomes
Sharmada Sivaram, a researcher in Public Health and Consultant to IIM Bangalore, presented three case studies conducted on the states of Jharkhand and Karnataka to establish how PHC inputs can lead to UHC outcomes in diverse settings. They include: Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (in Jharkhand and Karnataka), Participatory Learning & Action (in Jharkhand), and Tribal Health Navigators (in Karnataka).
The case studies, which highlighted pathways from PHC side intervention to link it to UHC side intervention, established that strengthening PHC needs boosting community engagement and trust, building local leadership, positioning PHC within the broader development agenda, and using participatory methods to generate actionable research.
The conference so far
Prof. Rusha Das, faculty of the Public Policy area and Prof. Maya Ganesh, faculty of the Production & Operations Management area, led two pre-conference workshops related to public policy research on, ‘Critical Policy Research: Uncovering Power, Contestation and Change’ and ‘Quasi-Experimental Methods for Impact Evaluation and Evidence-Based Policy Making’, respectively, on 18th August 2025, which set the stage for the conference.
Day One of the conference on 19th August 2025 began with Prof. Gopal Naik, Chairperson, Senior Fellow and Jal Jeevan Mission Chair Professor at the Centre for Public Policy, delivering the inaugural address. Prof. Naik’s address was followed by a plenary talk on, ‘Technology Driven Capacity Challenges to Public Policy Formulations – a Relook at Education, Identity, Privacy and Democracy’ by Dr. Subrata Rakshit, Retired Distinguished Scientist and Director General, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Prof. Rajalaxmi Kamath, Chairperson, Internal Committee and faculty of the Public Policy area and Prof. Arnab Mukherji too addressed the audience, which was followed by paper presentations and other talks.
What is in store
The remaining sessions of the conference will include panel discussions, workshops, paper presentations, a plenary talk on, ‘Policymaking in a Multilateral World: Some Reflections from History and Practice’ by Vikram Raghavan, international lawyer and development practitioner, other talks and the Prof. M R Krishnamurthy Memorial Lecture by Dr. Vishwanath Srikantaiah, water activist and urban planner, on his ‘Experience on Bengaluru and its Long-term Engagement with Water Security’.
The organizing committee of the 2025 CPP Conference on Public Policy & Management comprises Prof. Rajalaxmi Kamath, Chairperson, Internal Committee; Prof. Arnab Mukherji, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM); Prof. Allen P Ugargol; Prof. Rusha Das and Prof. Arpit Shah – all IIMB faculty from the Public Policy area.
Please click here for the photo gallery
Boosting primary healthcare crucial to achieving universal health coverage: Experts at Centre for Public Policy panel discussion
Practitioners and administrators recommend more community involvement during session on ‘Pathways from Primary Health Care to Universal Health Care’
20 August, 2025, Bengaluru: The second day of the XX International Conference on Public Policy & Management, being hosted by the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) from 19 to 21 August 2025 at IIM Bangalore, opened with a panel discussion on, ‘Pathways from Primary Health Care to Universal Health Care’. The annual CPP Conference on Public Policy and Management is an interdisciplinary conference which draws scholars representing diverse perspectives on public policy issues and provides a forum for showcasing the latest developments in policy research and practice.
The theme for this year’s CPP Conference is ‘Rethinking State Capacity in Delivering Public Policy’, and the event features research papers and practitioner case studies tackling issues contributing to an ongoing corpus of literature in and around State Capacity in delivering Public Policy. There were 170 submissions received for the conference this year, out of which 60 papers have been selected for presentation. For more details, please visit: https://www.iimb.ac.in/cpp-xx-2025/.
Primary Healthcare and its Impact on Universal Health Coverage
The panel discussion featured Prof. Arnab Mukherji, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM) and faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB; Ms Akay Minz, State Programme Coordinator, National Health Mission, Government of Jharkhand; Dr. Kamlesh Kumar, Director cum State Nodal for CP-CPHC, Government of Jharkhand, and Sri D. Randeep, Secretary to Government, Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka. Dr. N. S. Prashanth, Director, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, moderated the session.
Introducing the session, Prof. Arnab Mukherji shared that the panel discussion would revolve around health, specifically primary health, with the help of research findings from the states of Jharkhand and Karnataka, two diverse states in terms of economics as well as how the health system has evolved in dealing with state-specific challenges. His talk was based on the research project PHC4UHC, which he said is anchored by IIMB, along with teams from Institute of Public Health and the NGO Ekjut, Jharkhand.
Explaining district level PHC Inputs Index and UHC Outcomes Index, he said, “Every state has a unique health system and the research investigates the correlation to see how PHC is affecting UHC in these two different state ecosystems. Looking at different districts in the two states, we have used population level survey data to determine where they stand in terms of delivering healthcare. The indicators include PHC Input Domains like Performance, Quality, Capacity, Health Financing and Access, and WB/WHO UHC Domains like Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (RMNCH), Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), Service Capacity and Access (SCA), and Financial Risk Protection (FRP). The focus is on performance indicators, quality of primary healthcare indicators, capacity of districts in giving out PHC, health financing and access to primary health variables. The high and lows of PHC and UHC for the districts have been determined.”
He went on to discuss the research findings and their significance. “The studies show that while Jharkhand has several districts trapped in low PHC inputs and low UHC outcomes, Karnataka displays a mixed pattern with many districts achieving high UHC outcomes despite low PHC inputs, reflecting difference in state capacity, health system efficiency and governance. There is a positive relationship between all domains of the PHC Inputs Index and the UHC Outcomes Index, and consistent upward trend for both states. This suggests that stronger PHC inputs are generally associated with better UHC outcomes. Such data will help District Collectors, who anchor different government departments and schemes, in forming a perspective on how to invest time, resources, etc. to try and move the district higher up on UHC, looking at schemes which are directed towards PHC.”
Ms Akay Minz, recipient of the Covid Warrior National Award, has been committed to infusing deep community engagement into the state health system. She said, “When you work with the community, you have to think out-of-the-box. If you want sustainability and ownership, you need to strengthen the community grassroot institution. We achieved this by partnering with ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, Ekjut NGO, etc. ASHA workers became more empowered with leadership and convincing capabilities, we made women aware that health is their own subject and not a state subject, the Ministry recognized our learnings and the resultant transformation, the NHM team supported us, the quality enhanced, PLA meetings were held across the state and now even the elderly and adolescents are involved in various activities for social upliftment.”
Dr. Kamlesh Kumar said that to understand PHC delivery in our country, we need to first understand India and assess its burden, challenges, resources and then the way forward. “Over the years, India has tackled communicable and non-communicable diseases very effectively with the existing workforce, and mortality rates have come down. However, in several places in Jharkhand, because of the existence of uranium and other mines, the population comes in constant contact with harmful substances. Moreover, the approach of primitive tribes to health related issues is far from satisfactory. To deal with this, we have selected ASHA workers from primitive tribe groups. We need to actually devise strategies keeping all this in mind – the same strategy will not work in all locations. Despite the various challenges, the Ayushman Arogya Mandir implementation has also taken off very well, with an expanded package of services including insurance, the CBACK form for early detection, the new cadre of community health officers, and more. It is an amazingly designed programmed rolled out nationwide, but the big challenge remains as to making primary healthcare available at the grassroots across a diverse country like India.”
Sri D. Randeep, who has been the Commissioner of Health in Karnataka, now heading tribal welfare, discussed challenges in improving intersectoral coordination for PHC and health, and measures to overcome such challenges. “Health is a state subject and it is a challenging exercise to structure a program uniformly across the country. Different states need their own unique measures and implementation at the ground level. This is where supplementary methods like PLA programs, tribal health navigator, etc. come into effect. Supportive structures help us bypass challenges like geographical limitation, economic access, caste discrimination and other socio economic factors, and help us deliver a huge gamut of health schemes. The Karnataka government focused on tribal health navigator. Simply having a resource from the tribal community itself had a tremendous impact on reaching out to certain communities as members gained more trust and availed more preventive checks. Having experienced success with such measures in districts like Chamarajanagar, the state government is now keen on extending the same to more tribal dominated districts. Boosting PHC needs a convergent approach, in depth analysis, taking ground level feedback and local inputs on their perceived needs, assessing micro and macro indicators and then devising a system that can deliver on the ground. It is better that we do preventive health screening and provide access to vulnerable communities to be better prepared for the future.”
Dr. N. S. Prashanth summed up the key takeaways from the panel discussion adding, “Today’s session provided various deep insights, including, how in Jharkhand, not just women but men, the elderly and adolescents too, have been involved in a participatory learning space, which is created and owned by remote communities. This session hosted by IIM Bangalore and the Centre for Public Policy, involving practitioners and administrators – people who are deeply embedded in a complex system – will help create learnings to improve outcomes for the people.”
Case studies linking PHC inputs to UHC outcomes
Sharmada Sivaram, a researcher in Public Health and Consultant to IIM Bangalore, presented three case studies conducted on the states of Jharkhand and Karnataka to establish how PHC inputs can lead to UHC outcomes in diverse settings. They include: Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (in Jharkhand and Karnataka), Participatory Learning & Action (in Jharkhand), and Tribal Health Navigators (in Karnataka).
The case studies, which highlighted pathways from PHC side intervention to link it to UHC side intervention, established that strengthening PHC needs boosting community engagement and trust, building local leadership, positioning PHC within the broader development agenda, and using participatory methods to generate actionable research.
The conference so far
Prof. Rusha Das, faculty of the Public Policy area and Prof. Maya Ganesh, faculty of the Production & Operations Management area, led two pre-conference workshops related to public policy research on, ‘Critical Policy Research: Uncovering Power, Contestation and Change’ and ‘Quasi-Experimental Methods for Impact Evaluation and Evidence-Based Policy Making’, respectively, on 18th August 2025, which set the stage for the conference.
Day One of the conference on 19th August 2025 began with Prof. Gopal Naik, Chairperson, Senior Fellow and Jal Jeevan Mission Chair Professor at the Centre for Public Policy, delivering the inaugural address. Prof. Naik’s address was followed by a plenary talk on, ‘Technology Driven Capacity Challenges to Public Policy Formulations – a Relook at Education, Identity, Privacy and Democracy’ by Dr. Subrata Rakshit, Retired Distinguished Scientist and Director General, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Prof. Rajalaxmi Kamath, Chairperson, Internal Committee and faculty of the Public Policy area and Prof. Arnab Mukherji too addressed the audience, which was followed by paper presentations and other talks.
What is in store
The remaining sessions of the conference will include panel discussions, workshops, paper presentations, a plenary talk on, ‘Policymaking in a Multilateral World: Some Reflections from History and Practice’ by Vikram Raghavan, international lawyer and development practitioner, other talks and the Prof. M R Krishnamurthy Memorial Lecture by Dr. Vishwanath Srikantaiah, water activist and urban planner, on his ‘Experience on Bengaluru and its Long-term Engagement with Water Security’.
The organizing committee of the 2025 CPP Conference on Public Policy & Management comprises Prof. Rajalaxmi Kamath, Chairperson, Internal Committee; Prof. Arnab Mukherji, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM); Prof. Allen P Ugargol; Prof. Rusha Das and Prof. Arpit Shah – all IIMB faculty from the Public Policy area.
Please click here for the photo gallery